ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief account of the multiple biographies, roles and networks in which Aegean Bronze Age replicas are entangled, taking the ‘Throne of Minos’ as an example. Devoting a large space to the Minoan–Mycenaean collection and spending a fortune on plaster and electrotype replicas, as well as on watercolours of frescoes, clearly shows how much attention Aegean archaeology received not only in the UK but also in Europe and beyond. One of the most striking throne replicas can be found at the Peace Palace building in The Hague, Netherlands, which today hosts the International Court of Justice. Replicas play an important part in the parallel evolution of scientific narratives in multiple collection contexts, allowing for alternative or even competing interpretations and modes of reception. Replicas are composites of ‘original’ and additional knowledge, and this knowledge can often be embedded in their materiality.
