Faking the Grail
Introduction
Goldsmiths these days aren't often challenged to make a convincing fake of the Grail. The idea intrigued me.
The client (who insists on remaining anonymous) wanted an original object not a copy of something that already existed in fiction, or fact either (allegedly). I was familiar enough with the legends myself, but far more interested in the technology involved than literature or religion. As far as I was concerned, carte blanche was essential before I began to figure out how to forge anything.
Every tool mark would have to be credible. The supposed date of manufacture would have to be established before I could even start to consider anything else.
How it would be made and what it would be made out of were the first considerations. It had to be authentic enough to seduce experts, which would require an enormous attention to detail. I would have to choose my raw materials carefully, obtain them from suitable locations using the appropriate technology, and distress them too, if necessary, to create the right impression.
If I wanted to use metal, for instance, I'd have to melt down some ancient artefacts, if I could find any, or make up my own alloys and throw in a few red herrings just to confuse things.
If I wanted to use glass, I would have to make it from scratch myself and colour it too, before I decided whether to blow it, and if I wanted to use precious stones, I would have choose them very carefully.
I had absolutely no idea what I was going to make. A small vessel of some kind, I supposed. Deep or shallow, translucent or opaque, with metal bits attached, set with precious stones, beautifully engraved, and deeply significant but surprisingly practical too. Useful in some way, although I had no idea what for yet, or how I was going to make it.
Determining when it was supposed to have been made was easier than figuring out where, which was also essential. There were several possibilities, some of them less obvious than others. It all depended on what it was made out of as well as how it was made.
Glass seemed relevant in some way and so did metal. Gold, silver, copper or bronze were the obvious ones. Electrum, or unrefined gold was another possibility and so was iron. A bit of forged iron would be particularly appropriate in the circumstances, I thought. I decided to keep an open mind and ordered a bit of each to experiment with.
More research would be needed into all kinds of arts, with the odd detour into etymology, gemmology, history, archaeology and trade, before the raw materials were chosen and the first rough sketches were made.
Copyright©2005 Alex Murray.