Thu, Jul 27, 2000 page4

• Forum slated to investigate `fake' museum items

  • By Lin Mei-chun / STAFF REPORTER
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  Director of the National Palace Museum Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) yesterday agreed to hold a seminar in November to address mounting speculation about the authenticity of certain exhibits at the museum.

  Tu's proposal, however, was attacked by a lawmaker as being an attempt to stall the evaluation process.

  "The matter needs to be handled with caution because it is an academic issue," Tu said in response to DPP Lawmaker Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻), who has raised a question mark over the authenticity of some exhibits.

  "The panel should not be used to shield the museum from criticism. Rather, it will be an occasion when specialists will be invited to contribute their opinions in a bid to raise the level of professionalism of museum researchers," Tu said.

  "It is a very simple question -- are these pieces authentic or not? I only demand a yes or no answer," Chen said, pressing the director for a more concise reply.

  "Why wait until November? The issue should be clarified right now if [museum officials] have enough respect for our concerns. We have given them a month already," Chen said.

  Museum officials have been under scrutiny since Chen publicly questioned on June 19 the authenticity of three objects in the museum's collections.

  The objects in question are a stone palette -- supposedly from the Shang Dynasty -- bought for NT$1.35 million and two "Neolithic period" jade ornaments, which cost the museum more than NT$420,000.

  The lawmaker said that if the pieces were fake then either museum curators lacked adequate professional knowledge, or the transactions were made because of connections between museum officials and curio dealers.

  During the past month, sources said, there had been a series of letters between Chen and the museum authorities about the items. Even so, the lawmaker insisted yesterday the officials were being evasive.

  According to museum regulations, all items to be purchased must be inspected at least twice, first by the museum curators, then by a procurement committee comprising of 20 scholars and other specialists from outside the museum.

  Li Ming-yueh (李明岳), Chen's aide, told the Taipei Times that any procurement should be fiercely scrutinized by the two rounds of inspection to minimize mistakes.

  However, the assessment of the "Neolithic" items given after the first round of inspection stated that the jade ornaments should be bought because of "their substantial cultural value," Li said.

  The grounds provided by the procurement committee members were that the "the items are excellent jade pieces with a nicely-shaped bird nestled in. We therefore recommend this procurement," Li said.

  "How can such a considerable amount of state money be spent with under such cursory reasons?" Li asked.

  Chou Hai-sheng (周海聖), deputy editor-in-chief of Chinese Art News, said the authenticity of the items could be evaluated very easily.

  "The worth of any artifact should hinge on its craftsmanship and esthetic value. More importantly, a quality piece should reflect the style of the era, Chou said.

  "The three objects in question can easily be proved to be valueless because of the apparently rough craftsmanship and the indifferent style.

  "There is no way they were from the Shang Dynasty or the Neolithic period. Any individual with basic professional training should be able to tell the difference," Chou said.

  To improve the procurement committee, Tu said he had been working on forming a new list of procurement members.

  But, he said there was a shortage of jade experts in Taiwan; a point that Li was quick to refute.
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