The Lewis Collection: Acquisitions by the Michael C. Carlos Museum

Questions about the Joseph A. Lewis collection of Egyptian antiquities have been raised since the indictment of the collector and some North American dealers. Loans have been noted at Virginia MFA and at Boston MFA. The coffin seized in Miami was also apparently destined for the same private collection.

I have yet to receive a response from the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. However, Lee Rosenbaum of Culturegrrl is far more persistent and has posted information about the 19 objects donated by Lewis. Yet information about their collecting histories has yet to be released and Rosenbaum rightly draws attention to the AAMD policy on transparency.

Such a silence is not surprising. It appears that the museum has yet to resolve the Greek claims over a Minoan larnax, a pithos, and a statue of Terpsichore.

I have written to the Michael C. Carlos Museum again today.