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Bronze Member
family appeared in court yesterday accused of passing off a fake Egyptian artefact to a local authority for more than £400,000.
The fake was displayed at the Hayward Gallery
George Greenhalgh, 83, who is wheelchair-bound, was positioned outside the dock while his wife Olive, 82, holding a walking stick, joined their two middle-aged sons inside.
The Amarna Princess statuette was bought for £410,393 by Bolton metropolitan borough council in September 2003 in the belief it was genuine.
It was said to date from 1350BC and represent one of the daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, the mother of Tutankhamen, and be worth up to £1 million.
The 20-inch figure went on display in Bolton museum after being featured in an exhibition opened by the Queen at the Hayward Gallery, London.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police art and antiques unit removed the artefact last year after concerns about its authenticity.
The Greenhalghs were arrested with sons George, 52, and Shaun, 47, at the home they share in Bromley Cross, near Bolton, after experts determined it was counterfeit.
Shaun Greenhalgh, 47, admitted conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer the proceeds of the sale of the statue when they appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday.
He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud antique dealers, museum representatives, auction houses, academic institutions, art galleries and others between June 1989 and March last year.
This charge stated that he dishonestly caused or permitted them to accept certain items as authentic reliquaries, antiquities, ancient artefacts or works of art by particular artists and make payment for them when they were not authentic.
His parents are charged with the offences which he has admitted while his brother is accused of acquiring criminal property.
None of these three entered pleas at the brief hearing yesterday and a provisional trial date was set for Feb 4 next year.
Judge William Morris told Shaun Greenhalgh he would be sentenced when the cases of his parents and brother have been concluded. All four were granted unconditional bail to appear before the same court on Sept 7 for a further hearing.
Bolton council had to raise money to buy the statuette which it put on permanent display as an addition to its existing Egyptology collection.
The price tag was reached thanks to the National Arts Collection Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Friends of Bolton Museum and Art Gallery.
The sculpture was described at the time as carved in translucent Egyptian alabaster. Only two similar pieces are believed to exist - one in the Louvre in Paris and the other in a museum in Philadelphia.
Laurie Williamson, the council's executive member for culture, said at the time it was bought almost four years ago: "This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure an important Egyptian treasure."
The sculpture was put on display from Oct 23 until Jan 14, 2004, at the Hayward Gallery as part of an exhibition celebrating the centenary of the National Arts Collection Fund, which saves artworks for the nation.
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The fake was displayed at the Hayward Gallery
George Greenhalgh, 83, who is wheelchair-bound, was positioned outside the dock while his wife Olive, 82, holding a walking stick, joined their two middle-aged sons inside.
The Amarna Princess statuette was bought for £410,393 by Bolton metropolitan borough council in September 2003 in the belief it was genuine.
It was said to date from 1350BC and represent one of the daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, the mother of Tutankhamen, and be worth up to £1 million.
The 20-inch figure went on display in Bolton museum after being featured in an exhibition opened by the Queen at the Hayward Gallery, London.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police art and antiques unit removed the artefact last year after concerns about its authenticity.
The Greenhalghs were arrested with sons George, 52, and Shaun, 47, at the home they share in Bromley Cross, near Bolton, after experts determined it was counterfeit.
Shaun Greenhalgh, 47, admitted conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer the proceeds of the sale of the statue when they appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday.
He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud antique dealers, museum representatives, auction houses, academic institutions, art galleries and others between June 1989 and March last year.
This charge stated that he dishonestly caused or permitted them to accept certain items as authentic reliquaries, antiquities, ancient artefacts or works of art by particular artists and make payment for them when they were not authentic.
His parents are charged with the offences which he has admitted while his brother is accused of acquiring criminal property.
None of these three entered pleas at the brief hearing yesterday and a provisional trial date was set for Feb 4 next year.
Judge William Morris told Shaun Greenhalgh he would be sentenced when the cases of his parents and brother have been concluded. All four were granted unconditional bail to appear before the same court on Sept 7 for a further hearing.
Bolton council had to raise money to buy the statuette which it put on permanent display as an addition to its existing Egyptology collection.
The price tag was reached thanks to the National Arts Collection Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Friends of Bolton Museum and Art Gallery.
The sculpture was described at the time as carved in translucent Egyptian alabaster. Only two similar pieces are believed to exist - one in the Louvre in Paris and the other in a museum in Philadelphia.
Laurie Williamson, the council's executive member for culture, said at the time it was bought almost four years ago: "This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure an important Egyptian treasure."
The sculpture was put on display from Oct 23 until Jan 14, 2004, at the Hayward Gallery as part of an exhibition celebrating the centenary of the National Arts Collection Fund, which saves artworks for the nation.
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