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Why can museums find it difficult to admit that they have purchased a forgery?

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Hear about William Henry Ireland's fake manuscripts of William Shakespeare including a letter written to his wife — Forgery A look at a letter supposedly written by William Shakespeare to his wife, Anne Hathaway; it was, in fact, faked by William-Henry Ireland.

Museums often find it difficult to admit they have purchased a forgery primarily because doing so requires them to acknowledge that they have been duped. This admission can lead to significant professional and institutional embarrassment, as curators and collectors are expected to be the primary line of defense in verifying the authenticity and legality of acquisitions before purchase.1

Because museums frequently use public or donated funds to acquire works, the discovery of a fake can raise questions about the institution's due diligence and stewardship of resources. Consequently, museums rarely acknowledge that works in their collections may be inauthentic unless they are forced to do so—for example, when a forger reveals their own involvement or when overwhelming evidence makes it impossible to maintain the work's status.1

Even when doubts arise, the process of authentication remains complex. Experts often hold conflicting opinions based on reputable evidence, and scientific tests can sometimes yield ambiguous results, allowing institutions to delay or avoid definitive declarations regarding a work's authenticity.1