One of the issues surrounding one of the lots due to be auctioned shortly relates to its collecting history. The catalogue entry claims to give a history stretching back over several decades to what appears to be a named Swiss private collector (though apparently a Swiss based dealer). However documentation suggests that the piece in question was only undergoing restoration in the 1990s.
Has a flawed collecting history been supplied? Was it created by the vendor? Who is the vendor?
At least the auction house now knows the truth. But will the sale of the lot proceed?
Collecting histories matter and it is becoming increasingly common for them to be fabricated.
Discussion of the archaeological ethics surrounding the collecting of antiquities and archaeological material.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A head of Hermes from a genuinely old Italian collection
Source: San Antonio Museum of Art Among the deaccessioned items from the San Antonio Museum of Art in January 2022 was a marble head of Herm...
-
Source: Sotheby's A marble head of Alexander the Great has been seized in New York (reported in " Judge Orders Return of Ancien...
-
Tarentine funerary relief Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art The Manhattan DA has provided limited details about the recent return of antiqu...
-
If international museums can no longer "own" antiquities either through purchase on the antiquities market or through partage , wh...
No comments:
Post a Comment