Hoax Collection

Woman reading music, 1935-1940. Creator: Han van Meegeren
Woman reading music, 1935-1940. Painting inspired by Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter'. Henricus Antonius van Meegeren was a Dutch painter and portraitist

Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godlimon in Consultation, December 1726

The Automaton Chess Player, 1845. Creator: Unknown
The Automaton Chess Player, 1845. A machine...invented in the year 1769. by Wolfgang de Kempelin...the concealed player was seated immediately under the chess board of the Automaton...the reverse of

Ann Moore, the fasting woman of Tutbury, 1822. Creator: Robert Cooper
Ann Moore, the fasting woman of Tutbury, 1822. Portrait of Ann Moore (1761-1813) of Tutbury in Staffordshire who became notorious as a fraudulent fasting woman

Is The Visible Image Upon The Holy Shroud A Photograph Of Christ?, 1902. Creator: Unknown
Is The Visible Image Upon The Holy Shroud A Photograph Of Christ?, 1902. The Turin Shroud, claimed by some to be the burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped in after crucifixion

The Holy Shroud - Imprint of the Body Seen From Behind, 1902. Creator: Unknown
The Holy Shroud - Imprint of the Body Seen From Behind, 1902. The Turin Shroud, claimed by some to be the burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped in after crucifixion

The Holy Shroud - Imprint of the Body: Front View, 1902. Creator: Unknown
The Holy Shroud - Imprint of the Body: Front View, 1902. The Turin Shroud, claimed by some to be the burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped in after crucifixion, is now widely believed to be a hoax

The Syren Drawn from the Life, 1759? Creator: Benjamin Cole
The Syren Drawn from the Life, 1759? Engraving of a mermaid, claiming to have been drawn from the life. Fake mermaids were popular in the 18th century

Elizabeth Canning, malefactor, c1753. In 1753, a young woman called Elizabeth Canning claimed to have been kidnapped and held against her will at a house in Enfield

Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism. A medley, 1762. Artist: William Hogarth
Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism. A medley, 1762; Methodist meeting at Whitefields Tabernacle on Tottenham Court Road, London

The Bubblers Medley, or a Sketch of the Times, 1720. Satire on the South Sea Bubble of 1711-1720. A bankrupt man behind bars praying, with mock brokers receipt

The Bubblers Mirrour, or Englands Folly, 1720. Showing the head and shoulders of a man, looking distressed, holding an empty money-bag

Part of a letter from Thomas Chatterton to Horace Walpole, late 18th century, (1840). Artist: Thomas Chatterton
Part of a letter from Thomas Chatterton to Horace Walpole, late 18th century, (1840). The letter is an account of his pretended discovery of Rowleys poems

Eliza Canning from the Life, c1753
A True Draught of Eliza Canning. Eliza Canning from the Life, c1753. In 1753, a young woman called Elizabeth Canning claimed to have been kidnapped and held against her will at a house in Enfield

Skull of Piltdown Man (Eanothropus daswoni), 1912. This supposed fossil was discovered near Lewes, Sussex, in 1912 by Charles Dawson, a local solicitor and amateur archaeologist

Model of the skull of Piltdown Man (Eanothropus dawsoni), 1914. Artist: Dr Smith Woodward
Model of the skull of Piltdown Man (Eanothropus dawsoni), 1914. Model as reconstructed by Dr Smith Woodward. Dark areas are from the original fossil, the light are the restored areas

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