Shadwell forgeries
Some leading antiquarians were fooled by the forgeries, despite their being crudely made, due to Smith and Eaton's limited metalworking skills and illiteracy.
These displayed a variety of designs, including pilgrim badges, ampullae, statuettes, portable shrines, coins, medallions and ornamental spearheads.
Smith and Eaton claimed the source of the steady stream of antiquities was the large-scale excavations then taking place as part of the construction of London's Shadwell Dock.
Eastwood advertised the items as a "A remarkable curious and unique collection of leaden signs or badges of the time of Richard II", He sold them to several customers, who were willing to pay highly for them; some were bought by individuals on behalf of the British Museum, although the keepers there were suspicious about their authenticity.
[1][3][10][11] By 1858 Henry Syer Cuming, the secretary of the British Archaeological Association and Thomas Bateman, a wealthy landowner in the Derbyshire Peak District, who was also a keen antiquarian, archaeologist and collector, had become aware of the trade in these artefacts.
[1][3][4] On 28 April 1858 Cuming delivered a lecture, Some Recent Forgeries in Lead, to the British Archaeological Association, when he condemned them as a "gross attempt at deception".
George Eastwood responded firstly with letters defending the authenticity of the items he was selling, then, feeling this brought him little satisfaction, he sued the publishers of Athenaeum for libel.
He agreed that he had not been named in the magazine's report, but as he was the largest vendor of the items described, the Athenaeum had implicitly libelled him, thus greatly damaging his business and his reputation.
Thomas Hugo, vicar of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a prolific author on the antiquarian matters, said that he believed the items date to the 15th or 16th centuries, although he was unable to state exactly why he thought so.
The judge thus directed the jury to find the magazine publishers not-guilty of libel, but it was asked to affirm its faith in Eastwood's integrity.
[1][3][10][11] The libel trial attracted widespread publicity, since it was covered in depth by The Times, with a report that was re-published in numerous national and local newspapers.
Thus, even though Eastwood failed to convict The Athenaeum of libel, the result gave the appearance of endorsing the authenticity of his stock, and his sales increased exponentially, bringing him some prosperity.
[1][3] Production and sale of the forgeries continued for three further years, until 1861, when Roach Smith published volume five of Collectanea Antiqua, an encyclopedic work about his personal archaeological researches.
Making inquiries in the Shadwell Dock construction site, he was unable to find anybody who had seen the items in the course of their work, or who had done any trade with Smith or Eaton.
Reed was introduced to Smith and Eaton; having gained their trust, he paid the tosher to break into their workshop and steal several of their moulds; these were exhibited at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London in March 1861, conclusively proving that the items were fakes.
When the purchasers took them to court, James Smith and William Aiken said that their accusers were not truly angry that the objects were of modern manufacture, but were, in reality, more unhappy because they had been unable to re-sell them for a considerable profit.
[1] Charley Eaton died of consumption on 4 January 1870 in Matilda Place, a yard adjacent to North-East Passage, between Cable Street and Wellclose Square in the Tower Hamlets area of London.
