Shaun Greenhalgh Art Forger
Shaun Greenhalgh has been called one of the most diverse forgers in history. He was born in 1961 and left school at the age of 16 with no qualifications. He was a self-taught artist who used his knowledge from working as an antiques dealer to create immaculate forgeries. He was able to carve, paint and sculpt well enough to pass off his pieces as originals. He enlisted the help of his parents to approach clients and his brother to manage the money. They were necessary additions as Shaun was much too shy to speak on the phone to try and sell the forgeries himself.
The most impressive forgery that Shaun completed was that of a Amarna statue. The family bought a catalog in 1999 that detailed an auction that took place in 1892 that sold eight Egyptian figures belonging to the Earl Egremont. In 2002 the family approached the Bolton museum claiming that the Amarna statue was one of the eight figures that was purchased at that auction by a relative. In 2003 after consulting experts the museum purchased the statue for £439,767.
The family sold numerous pieces and made the tidy fortune for themselves but it was not to last. In 2005 the family tried to sell three Assyrian reliefs which they claimed came from the Palace of Sennacherib in 600 B.C. and were purchased at the same auction as the Amarna statute. The British museum was willing to buy one of the pieces but when the pieces were offered to the Bonhams auction house they were spotted as fakes. The auction house contacted the British Museum and the museum, upon realizing the fake, contacted Scotland Yard. The family was arrested 18 months later. There was only 120 known forgeries by the family and it is believed that there are others still out there.