An
incredible 3-volume catalog
of fake terra-cotta lamps
Lucernae
Musei Passerii.
Sumptibus Academiae Pisaurensis.
By Fr. Giambattista Passeri.
Pisauri: 1739; 1743 & 1751.
Giambattista Passeri, S.J., Abbate of Pesaro, tireless author, antiquary, and promoter, was enthusiastic, but unfortunately just a bit gullible and not overly swayed by facts. His most famous fight was a life-long struggle against the prevailing wisdom, and wisdom in general, to claim for his own town of Pesaro the distinction of having been the birthplace of metallic lustre pottery, and the art of maiolica.
Passeri's prized and extensive collection of ancient pottery lamps met a similar fate.
Passeri eagerly bought a wide variety of unusual specimens of "Roman" terra-cotta lamps from peddlers and "excavators", and dreamed of establishing a classification system for them based on his own extensive collection. This three-volume catalog was to be the cornerstone of his efforts, and would have been, but unfortunately...
Reality intruded.
You see, the thing about terra-cotta is that it is very difficult to tell an old piece from a new piece which has been made to look old, especially if you are an enthusiastic, overly credulous collector who thinks that he has stumbled onto a wide variety of new and unique forms.
Scholars had always looked at the collection with some reserve, and by 1905 Walter's noted that "references to Passeri's work have been avoided, as it has been shown by Dr. Dressel that nearly all those published by him are false."
Oh well.
What we are left with, however, is one of the most elaborate catalogs of pure fakes ever produced. This work is all the more interesting since most of the lamps were custom made with the intention of selling them to this one collector, who for decades constituted a market unto himself.
... 
There is some sort of distinction in that.
3 volumes, 10.5"x15", 92 pages + 105 engraved plates; 73 pages + 104 engraved plates; 147 pages + 110 engraved plates; there are also some engraved decorations in the text; bound in old marbled boards with parchment spines; some cover soil, but overall a nice set.
$2,250
