An Ancient Boar, a Viral Meme and a Cleveland Museum of Art Mystery

The Boar Vessel, a piece of ancient pottery at the Cleveland Museum of Art, had its 15 minutes of internet fame back in 2018. The silly internet memes drew massive amounts of attention to the small artwork — and also drew new scrutiny. Following its viral moment online, questions emerged around whether or not the boar vessel was truly an ancient work, and whether it may be a modern forgery. It led museum historians and curators on an investigation of research, laboratory tests and documentation review, all to answer one question: Could the internet-famous boar vessel be a total fake?For even more Northeast Ohio stories, subscribe to Cleveland Magazine: https://clevelandmagazine.com/Music Credit: "Phantasms" by Nihilore. License: https://www.nihilore.com/license