Detecting Deception
At Library and Archives Canada, we have many techniques and use many tools to identify legitimate paintings, photos, maps, stamps and documents. A lot of fakes and forgeries are detected simply with experience. Professionals see so many different items, that when a piece comes in and doesn't look or feel like all the others, it makes them wonder. We also use tools like high-powered microscopes, many different types of lights and some very expensive machinery to further inspect items that are sent to our laboratories.
Here's a sneak peek into the "detective" work that goes on in the labs….