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Ancient Pottery - Real or Fake?

9:54 AM PST, 2/27/2008

Can you tell a real ancient pot from from a fake, or a replica? A few weeks ago I had the privilege of conversing with Nicolas Quezada on this subject. He told me that he has often been a guest at a professor's or curator's home, and been proudly shown their collection of "original ancient pottery". In many cases the conversation went like this: "Well, Mr. Professor, this is a fine collection, but of your 7 pots, only these two are genuine. The other five are replicas." "What? How can you tell?!!!" How CAN you tell? It's so simple it might make you cry. Especially if you have "genuine" ancient pottery in your collection! Here's the tip from Nicolas Quezada: Genuine ancient pottery is always, always polished on the inside. Polishing the inside sealed the otherwise porous surface for utility. So, if you are ever presented with a genuine, original ancient pot - be sure to check the inside. This may not insure you're not getting a replica, but at least you know that if it's NOT finished on the inside, it's NOT genuine.
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Comments:

  • [Anonymous] said:

    Well, by "polishing," Bill just meant a certain amount of burnishing, not fine polishing. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you just try to detect the burnishing, but the give-away is if the interior is rough to the touch, so that it is clear that there was never any attempt at burnishing. Many times such a rough interior is also black in color. Interesting, one way a pot was burnished on the inside, if the opening was small to reach your hand in, was to attach a burnishing stone to the end of a curved stick, no small trick in itself.

    Posted: 11:49 AM PST, 4/1/2008

  • txwille said:

    Bill, thanks for all the good information you are putting in your newsletter. This is an interesting thought that a fake can be deteremined by whether or not it's "polished". After many years of interest in prehistoric vessels, this is the first time I've heard this theory. I know that ancient craftsmen did strive to 'seal off' the interior of their vessels. I notice in the Caddo vessels the interior is smoothed. In looking at a prehistoric Casas Grande jar I note that it is smoothed inside, but it is hard to know if this is what one would call "polished". In looking at thousands of authentic sherds I have found in ancient camps, I also find it difficult to identify any as being polished. Many of them show surfaces coated with two different types of slip, which seems to be used as a sealer. Would love to hear some pottery expert give a little more information on how to determine "polishing".

    Posted: 8:38 PM PST, 3/14/2008

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