A postcard ridiculing the Louvres dubious purchase.
Photo:Wikimedia Commons
The story of the tiara began in 1894 in the Russian city of Odessa.
The finished product stood 7 inches tall and weighed a little more than a pound of solid gold.
Among the finds exhibited was the tiara that Rouchomovsky had unknowingly forged.
Perhaps appropriately, the deal was signed on April 1, 1896.
Shortly after the Louvre acquired the tiara, questions about its origins arose.
German archaeologist Adolf Furtwangler noted many stylistic problems with the tiara’s design and questioned the artifacts pristine condition.
For six years, a battle ensued between the Louvre and the Parisian press.
This letter was published in 1903.
Rouchomovsky was indignant for having been cheated.
He traveled to Paris and presented himself to the Louvre.
He explained how he had been tricked into making a phony crown.
Still unconvinced, the museum provided Rouchomovsky with some gold and asked him to do his best.
They were supposed to have been because of the falling of stones of the mouldering tomb.
This story attracted a lot of public attention.
Merchants sold postcards, souvenirs and copies and tiaras.
Cartoons were drawn about it and sang in cabarets.
The tiara has been borrowed a few number of times by other museums and exhibited.
The tiara fiasco made Rouchomovsky a celebrity.
Other works earned him a Gold Medal at the Paris Salon of Decorative Arts.
Memorial plaque to jeweler Israel Rukhomovsky in Odessa.
A fake artefact made in Odessa,The Odessa Journal#Wikipedia
