Perception and evaluation of authentic objects: findings from a visitor study

Authentic objects, defined as original objects that once served a real-world purpose and bear historical significance, are very important to the collections of museums, as they increase any museum's prestige, have high economic value, and allow for historical research. Previous findings indicate that the importance of authentic objects for presentation in an exhibition should be challenged. To investigate the perception and evaluation of authentic objects of high historical significance, we presented two different ‘masterpiece’ objects either as originals or as replicas in a space flight and astronautics exhibition. An extensive set of interviews (N = 115) revealed that visitors consider authentic objects in equal shares either as relevant or as irrelevant. The interviews both confirmed and expanded an existing set of dimensions of authenticity. The results of a supplementary questionnaire showed that whenever visitors feel that authenticity is of high relevance they also evaluate objects more highly – independently from the state of authenticity.