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Historic writer's desk could be 'knackered' old fake
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8995q12z8eoHistoric writer's desk could be 'knackered' old fake
12 hours ago
By Sean Coughlan, BBC News
The desk of the writer Dr Samuel Johnson is to be returned to his former London home for the first time in more than 260 years.
Except, in a strange twist, its owner is now uncertain whether it really is the desk of the famous 18th Century dictionary author.
It's been suggested that despite many years of being treated as a literary relic, it could have been part of a Victorian hustle to make money.
It will be the star attraction of a new museum exhibition, but visitors will be asked whether they now believe it's authentic.
.webp
The plaque records the desk being given to the Oxford college in 1867
[...]
12 hours ago
By Sean Coughlan, BBC News
The desk of the writer Dr Samuel Johnson is to be returned to his former London home for the first time in more than 260 years.
Except, in a strange twist, its owner is now uncertain whether it really is the desk of the famous 18th Century dictionary author.
It's been suggested that despite many years of being treated as a literary relic, it could have been part of a Victorian hustle to make money.
It will be the star attraction of a new museum exhibition, but visitors will be asked whether they now believe it's authentic.
.webp
The plaque records the desk being given to the Oxford college in 1867
[...]
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Historic writer's desk could be 'knackered' old fake (Original Post)
sl8
Jun 2024
OP
marble falls
(62,518 posts)1. It just opens up a discussion of what is the real value of "the story" to an antique, anyways? Good story!
bucolic_frolic
(47,572 posts)2. Ford Museum was fed a famouse fake Brewster Chair about 50 years ago
https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/52590/
https://www.woodshopnews.com/columns-blogs/the-great-brewster-chair-and-how-it-was-recreated
Guy created it in his woodshop. Very meticulous about materials and method. Buried evidence of electrically turned dowels in the rungs. So it could be validated that it was a fake.
https://www.woodshopnews.com/columns-blogs/the-great-brewster-chair-and-how-it-was-recreated
Guy created it in his woodshop. Very meticulous about materials and method. Buried evidence of electrically turned dowels in the rungs. So it could be validated that it was a fake.
marble falls
(62,518 posts)3. That guy is very accomplished ...