Skip to main content

Have you seen this krater?

I understand that DVDs have been dropping through the letterboxes of major dealers of antiquities in the last few days. They contain images of objects originally seized in Zurich in 2001; they were later released by a judge. In another legal ruling the Carabinieri have been granted permission to reseize the objects - but key pieces have been dispersed.

The Carabinieri are now distributing images of the 350 or so items that have been passed on by the dealer concerned. You really should view the DVD if you have bought any antiquities in the last few years without a recorded collecting history, especially if it came from "an old Swiss collection".

And if you recognise this krater please do let the Carabinieri know ... or leave a comment.

All this is a reminder of how the Italian authorities are tackling the problem of looting.

Image
From Carabinieri, 66272-3[57] 
© Carabinieri



Bookmark and Share so Your Real Friends Know that You Know

Labels:

Comments

Cultural Property Observer said…
David- Could the release of this material be a response to Bill Pearlstein's complaints during the interim review of the Italian MOU that the Carabinieri and US Customs were playing "gotcha" with American auction houses and collectors? See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2009/11/gotcha-italian-style.html

Sincerely,

Peter Tompa
20 January 2010 at 15:12
David Gill said…
Peter
Auction-houses could be advised to stop selling antiquities that do not have documentation to show that they surfaced prior to 1970.
Best wishes
David
20 January 2010 at 15:19
Tarquin said…
Do you know whether the images are available anywhere online?
21 January 2010 at 15:30
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Codename: Ainsbrook

I have been watching (UK) Channel 4's Time Team this evening. The programme looked at an undisclosed field (under a potato crop) where a Viking burial had been found. The location in Yorkshire was so sensitive that it was given a codename: Ainsbrook. Here is the summary:
In late 2003 two metal detectorists were working in a field in Yorkshire. They found 'treasure' buried just beneath the surface – a collection of Viking material next to a body. Although they had been detecting on the site for a number of years, during which time they had made large numbers of finds, nothing they had uncovered previously compared with this. They decided to share their discovery with archaeologists.The programme explored the tension between metal-detectorists and the English Heritage sponsored archaeologists putting six trenches into the field based on a geo-physical survey. Finds made by the metal-detectorists did not easily map onto the archaeological features.

Part of the programme had an …
4 comments
Read more

The scale of the returns to Italy

I have been busy working on an overview, "Returning Archaeological Objects to Italy". The scale of the returns to Italy from North American collections and galleries is staggering: in excess of 350 objects. This is clearly the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the material that has surfaced on the market without a history that can be traced back to the period before 1970. 

I will provide more information in due course, but the researcher is a reminder that we need to take due diligence seriously when it comes to making acquisitions.

Post a Comment
Read more

Stele returns to Greece

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture has announced (Saturday 8 September 2018) that a stele that had been due to be auctioned at Sotheby's in London in June 2017 has been returned to Greece (Friday 7 September 2018). The identification had been made by Cambridge-based forensic archaeologist Dr Christos Tsirogiannis.

It appeared that the stele had been supplied with a falsified history as its presence with Becchina until 1990 contradicted the published sale catalogue entry. It then moved into the hands of George Ortiz.

A year ago it was suggested that Sotheby's should contact the Greek authorities. Those negotiations appear to have concluded successfully.

The 4th century BC stele fragment, with the personal name, Hestiaios, will be displayed in the Epigraphic Museum in Athens. It appears to have come from a cemetery in Attica.



Post a Comment
Read more