Our Judicial Experts specialized in the detection of Artistic Forgeries assist the Justice Services and Judicial Police.

We also work upstream in cases of verifying the authenticity of Artworks (purchase advice for Public Authorities, Foundations, and Stylistic Experts):

Our Principles and publications

Forensic Sciences and Artistic Forgeries: the challenge of combining Scientific and Stylistic study
(Violaine de Villemereuil, Published in the Polytechnique Review: La Jaune et la Rouge)

Principles of Artwork study in the Forensic context: how to conduct an expert assessment?
(Violaine de Villemereuil, Published in the Review of the National Company of Judicial Experts in Chemistry: Chimie&Compagnie)

For requests related to the study of industrial paints: please visit our dedicated page.

We operate in France and Europe

48-hour turnaround upon request & depending on context

Combating the Production of Artistic Forgeries

Why verify the authenticity of your artwork?

The law on artistic forgeries is evolving to bring the treatment of the sale of a forged artwork closer to the conditions of fraud.

Authentication is one of the main objectives of physico-chemical studies, particularly in conservation-restoration or in the fight against artistic forgeries.

How to verify the authenticity of your artwork?

  • When information on the provenance of an artwork is missing — which is frequently the case — the use of physico-chemical analysis methods becomes essential to assess the dating of historical materials.

At OSE Services, in the fight against the production of artistic forgeries, physico-chemical analyses are carried out to identify:

  • The nature of the materials used,
    • whether inorganic (pigments, ceramics, metals, minerals, glass, etc.)
    • or organic (binders, resins, varnishes, waxes, wood, textile fibers, etc.)
  • These studies make it possible to analytically evaluate the consistency of the materials used with the period in which the artwork was created.

Dating Techniques for Artworks: Paintings, Wood, Bronze

Why date an artwork?

To establish the authenticity of an art or archaeological object.

By comparing dating results with historical knowledge and the artistic styles of the time — as well as with physico-chemical analysis results — it becomes possible to determine whether a work is an original or a copy, and whether it was created in the presumed period.

  • Artistic styles, decorative motifs, and materials used have changed over time.

Comparing the datings of various works or artifacts allows us to observe the evolution of cultural and artistic practices within a given society.

  • Dating also makes it possible to reconstruct a chronology of events and thus better understand the history of civilizations.

What are the dating analysis techniques for artworks?

At OSE Services, we are able to offer dating services using:

  • Lead-210 isotope measurement
  • Dendrochronology (the science of dating the felling year of a tree based on its rings)
  • Thermoluminescence (dating of heated crystal minerals, Paleolithic hearth stones, Neolithic and protohistoric pottery shards, etc.)
  • Carbon-14

Our references

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Expertise and laboratory for the control and chemical analysis of works of art

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Expertise and chemical analysis laboratory in the field of industry

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Technical and scientific expertise, litigation and chemical risk assessment

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