C. L. W. Merlin

Charles Louis William Merlin was born in 1821. The son of Augusta and François-Nicolas (Francis Nicholas), Charles was apparently related from his father’s side to French nobility – the family of Merlin de Douai, fervent supporters of the French revolution, many members of which sought refuge in adjacent countries following the restitution of monarchy in France in 1814. The British Museum today houses around 450 Greek antiquities, some of outstanding quality and importance, that were purchased from Charles Merlin over a period of 30 years (1865-1892).

There were two principle dealers Lambros and Xakostis. From some letters between Merlin and his buyers, I found some interesting things like the dealer Xakostis might fix some color of original Tanagra statuettes or overcleanedthe figurines; these behaviors caused some buyers’ concerns. Merlin underlined that the diggings were exhausted and the trustworthy ones were in Paris or Britain in 1877. There were five figurines that be proved as forgeries in British Museum, and there were other real ones were supplied by Merlin. He kept doing this for another fifteen years. From the data I found, most forgeries appeared in before 1880, which made me convince the Wheaton’s Tanagra figurine was excavated after 1880, in Reinach’s excavation.

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