Real or fake, the Ned Kelly puzzle
Anna Cock
Daily Telegraph
20 May 2002
source: dailytelegraph.news.com.au

It's a $19,080 question to which most Ned Kelly experts think they have the answer. Is this a genuine photograph of Australia's famous bushranger, or is it simply an anonymous colonial? Purist historians will say the former – but forensic scientists claim otherwise. Whatever the case, a Kelly enthusiast who forked out $19,080 for the picture at a Christie's auction this year will be hoping for a swift end to the argument.

"I feel very sorry for him," historian and author Ian Jones said about the buyer yesterday, following claims that the man pictured in the three-piece suit was not Ned Kelly. It was on Mr Jones' assessment and verification that auction house Christie's put the photograph up for sale on March 26 as a unique print of Ned Kelly.

Based on his own exhaustive knowledge of the bushranger's life and times, as well as advice from photographic expert Dr Keith McMenomy, Mr Jones stands by the authenticity claim. "If someone proves to me this is not Ned Kelly I'm happy to be proven wrong, but at the moment these people jumping up and down saying this is not Ned Kelly does not impress me," said Mr Jones, 70, a respected authority on Kelly, whose life-long interest was sparked when he read a book as a child about the Australian outlaw.

"Everything checks . . . even in amazing detail like the belt he is wearing. "When we blew up the photograph we discovered this belt is identical to the one that was taken from Ned Kelly at Glen Rowan and is now on display in Melbourne," Mr Jones said. But he did not take advice from the forensic scientists who challenge the photograph's authenticity.

Glenrowan historian Gary Dean sent a copy of the photograph to anatomical scientists at the University of Adelaide, "and we are certain it is not Ned Kelly", he told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. Mr Dean also cast doubt over other pictures in the Christie's sale and said another Kelly photograph auctioned for $10,000 in 1991 had subsequently been identified as a goldminer by a visitor to his gallery.

"Ian Jones knows a hell of a lot, but he's only as good as his information sources and we all make mistakes – I think he's probably been a bit foolish in that he didn't check it out with the professionals," Mr Dean said, referring to scientists who use computer models to compare face structure. One professional Mr Jones did check with was Dr Keith McMenomy, a retired art director whose second edition of Ned Kelly: The Authentic Illustrated Story was published last year. Like Mr Jones, he believes the photograph sold at auction is genuine and is unconvinced by suggestions to the contrary. Christie's has offered to refund the $19,080 paid for the photograph if the doubts surrounding its authenticity are proved.