A Case of Forgeries at the Herbert Hoover

Image taken of Sadigh Gallery courtesy of Manhattan District Attorney's Office

By Alexis Redshaw

On Monday, April 8, 2019, less than a week before the new Rosetta Stone exhibit was due to open at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum (the Hoover), University of Iowa art history Professor Björn Anderson and graduate student Erin Daly went to preview the objects on display in preparation for the lectures they would deliver alongside the show. Once there, they both spent time walking around the exhibit and taking photos of relevant objects, all of which were on loan from the Origins Museum Institute based in El Paso, Texas.^[1] The exhibit consisted of authentic objects and replicas, so Daly and Anderson recognized that there was a degree of ambiguity in the way that the exhibit described both the original objects and replicas on display.^[2]

In a glass case showcasing seals, Daly started to notice something strange. One particular Old Babylonian stamp seal dated very precisely, from 1920 B.C., led her to do a closer examination. The seal appeared to have imagery from the Neo-Babylonian, rather than the Old Babylonian, period, making her suspicious of the date listed. Additional seals in the case seemed to have been carved in the same rough manner, which would be an improbable occurrence given the diverse artistry behind stamp and cylinder seals from the ancient Near East.^[3] While Daly was examining the seals, Anderson examined smaller busts that he had never seen before. When analyzing their particularly early dates, he wondered how he was never made aware of these objects in textbooks or other scholarly work. If the objects were made during those periods, they would have most certainly been discussed in texts highlighting their origin and influence.^[4]