Afternoon Tea, Lecture and Object Study | The Real Thing? Authenticity, Imitation and Deception in Silver with Matthew Lafite

What makes a silver object genuine? Is authenticity guaranteed by a hallmark, a celebrated maker’s name or the unmistakable lustre of precious metal? And when does imitation become deception?

Drawing on the silver holdings of The Johnston Collection - including selected pieces from the Roger Brookes Bequest which will be available to view - Matthew will explore the sometimes elusive boundaries between originality, reproduction, adaptation and forgery.

Silver has long signalled wealth, status and taste, making it particularly susceptible to imitation and misrepresentation. Yet copying can also reflect admiration, technical ingenuity and changing fashions rather than fraudulent intent.

Through close examination of objects and their histories, the presentation invites the audience to reconsider what constitutes the “real thing”. Can an altered or imitative object possess its own authenticity? And what can deception reveal about the history of collecting silver?

Matthew Lafite is a specialist in English, Irish, and Scottish silver from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, and English and Continental gold boxes.

Matthew is based in Australia and the UK and is a member of the Confederation Internationale des Négociants en Œuvres d'Art, the London Association of Art & Antique Dealers and the Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association. Matthew is approved to value English, Irish and Scottish silver dating from 1300 onward, for the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

Your ticket includes two lectures and an object study by special guest Matthew Lafite accompanied by an afternoon tea of petit fours and tea or Market Lane coffee, served on our Wedgwood fine bone china, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our house museum, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This program is supported by The Copland Foundation.

Image: formerly attributed to: Jonathan Newton, bowl, 1714. Bequest of C H (Roger) Brookes, Melbourne, 2021. The Johnston Collection, East Melbourne.