Museum of Forgeries (Musee de la Contrefacon) description and photos - France: Paris (Topic)

Museum of Forgeries (Musee de la Contrefacon) description and photos - France: Paris. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Musee de la Contrefacon.

Photo and description

There is such an unusual place in Paris as the museum of forgeries. Fakes of what? Total!

The museum, located on the first floor of an elegant 19th century mansion, was created by the French Union of Manufacturers back in 1951, since then the exposition has been constantly replenished and improved.

Most of the French believe: counterfeit is just a game with the police, no big deal. Meanwhile, the growing counterfeit market is costing France 38,000 jobs and € 6 billion annually. To show the society the danger of falsification, the museum operates.

He started with fake canned fish and thread in spools. Now the exposition has a lot of modern household items - mobile phones, knives, lighters, razors, pens. There is a wax mannequin dressed from head to toe in horrible clothes with labels of famous manufacturers. Shopping enthusiasts can compare counterfeits and original products and find out how they can be distinguished. Sometimes counterfeiters change the letter in the name or the shape of the item - here on the shelf is Hugo perfume, and next to it is Vigo in a very similar bottle. Or cans of coffee, packaging with cleaning products, ketchup, beer, Barbie dolls, software, sunglasses, T-shirts, CDs ...

The exhibition tells how dangerous counterfeiting is: both medicines and car parts are counterfeited and airplanes, toys may contain flammable materials, toxic substances or small parts, sunglasses do not protect the eyes from the sun, and electrical appliances can kill instantly.

The new wing of the museum displays fake figurines by Rodin, Dali and Giacometti, describing counterfeiting methods such as using acid and wax to age bronze.

The jewel in the collection is an amphora from around 200 BC. e. - these were used to transport wine from Italy to Gaul. The cork in the amphora is fake (the real one is nearby), which means that the wine was not of high quality.

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Topic: Museum of Forgeries (Musee de la Contrefacon) description and photos - France: Paris.