FRAUDSTERS beware: fake statues can now be unmasked using X-rays. The technique can also reveal information about how metal and ceramic artefacts were made, without harming them.
At present, distinguishing between genuine porcelain antiques and fakes means drilling into samples to test them (Â鶹´«Ã½, 26 September 2005, p 21). Museums and collectors are reluctant to do this as it risks damaging the pieces, says Franco Rustichelli, a materials scientist at the Polytechnic University of the Marche in Ancona, Italy. Conventional X-ray images can reveal the different materials inside an object, but do not provide much information about antiques…
