Advanced materials capabilities

Fakes and forgeries In 2019, the global art market was estimated to have been worth in excess of £50 billion. Increasingly it is also a market exploited by criminals. A survey conducted by Deloitte reported that ‘authenticity, lack of provenance, forgery, and attribution’ are the biggest threats to credibility and trust in the art market. Cranfield’s analysis of ancient and historical materials initially came to the attention of Bonhams auctioneers, with work on Meissen snuffboxes. The reputation for novel research soon spread to other auction houses and has led to requests for analysis, collaboration and advice by a wide range of clients, including more than 20 university and national museums worldwide, such as Harvard, Oxford and the major London museums. Cranfield has specialised in developing bespoke non-destructive analytical techniques, building on technologies used in forensic or archaeological science, to aid UK and European police on preventing smuggling and identifying forgeries of art and antiques.

7