Authenticity and Cycladic figures

I understand that in February there will be a closed conference to explore the Stern collection of Cycladicising objects currently on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of the key issues that needs to be explored relates to the authenticity of the figures. Are some of them modern creations? Are some recreated from genuine figures? Are some the work of well-known forgers of Cycladic figures? Will it be possible to identify the works of forgers in other collections, perhaps including the Met?

Will delegates of the conference restate the importance of archaeological context in determining authenticity? Or will there be an exploration of "the land of parallel" where similar figures may not have secure contexts?

What will be the lasting academic contribution of this conference to the Early Cycladic period?

For further reading:

Tsirogiannis, C., D. W. J. Gill, and C. Chippindale. 2022. "The Forger’s Tale: An insider’s account of corrupting the corpus of Cycladic figures." International Journal of Cultural Property 29: 369–85. [Online]

Tsirogiannis, C., D. W. J. Gill, and C. Chippindale. 2025. "A Corrupt Cycladic Corpus of Marble Figures." Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies 13: 203–33. [Online]

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