Spotting A Forgery

On the current amber world market, products made from fossil resins similar to amber are being promoted, in addition to succinate ones. In Germany a large range of decorations is made from copal which is imported from the southern hemisphere. They are very similar to decorations made from Baltic amber, especially when they are finished with a thin layer of special varnish. The forgery can be easily recognized for, unlike true amber, the copal articles dissolve, for example in acetone. Also being much softer, their surface wears off and they quickly become dull. The decorations made from the so-called Dominican amber have similar characteristics. This type of amber originates from the island of Hispaniola and has been known on the market for some decades. It is a resin, which differs greatly from succinite and has no tradition of artistic handicraft.

On the contrary, Baltic amber has been bound up with the cultures of human societies from very early days. At Niedzwiedziowka, a village 30 kms east of Gdansk, a Neolithic amber region was found. Documents show that 4, 500 years ago, 900 workshops existed on one square kilometer of the village. In ancient times, there were regular amber routes, leading to the Vistula estuary from first Greece and then from the Roman Empire. Amber was a constant feature of ancient cultures. Its Greek name elektron expressed admiration for its magnetic properties and the fable of amber originating from Heliadic tears has moved the hearts of people for hundreds of years.

Gdansk was for many centuries a center of artistic amber production. The master-craftsmen of this city created their masterpieces on the orders of the highest social classes: supreme sovereigns, the aristocracy, or the highest clergy. Large caskets, furniture, altars, and reliquaries roused admiration by their composition, perfect execution, and rich iconological design, but mainly by the beauty of the material.

The largest amber object ever made — the famous Amber Room in Carskie Siolo, was initiated by a Gdansk master Andreas Schluter and the most difficult work, the large panneaux covering the walls, was carried out by Gdansk masters, Gottfried Turau and Ernst Schacht.

Prof. Barbara Kosmowska-Ceranowicz, Museum of the Earth, Warsaw
Wieslaw Gierlowski, Amber Association of Poland, Gdansk
Duty Free International Review, 1998