‘A Perplexed Crocodile’ and Other Sculptures: Some Sheikh Ibada Fakes in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden

First surfacing on the antiquities market in the mid-twentieth century, the Sheikh Ibada fakes came to occupy a position of prominence within the study of Late Antique Egyptian art until they were eventually outed as fakes. Despite this, and with no clear arguments disputing claims these pieces are modern fakes, some sculptures belonging to this corpus are still presented by collections, and occasionally even published, as authentic examples of Late Antique Egyptian sculpture. In response to this impact, and in an effort to facilitate further identification of these sculptures, this paper provides a synopsis of the stylistic and formal characteristics that have been identified as typical of the Sheikh Ibada corpus. Using these characteristics as a guide, this paper then discusses four sculptures in the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, and argues that they should be viewed as examples of the Sheikh Ibada fakes.