The Treasure Trove Report for Scotland 2011/12 is now available to download.
Discussion of the archaeological ethics surrounding the collecting of antiquities and archaeological material.
Friday 29 June 2012
Day of Archaeology 2012 and Raising Money for Heritage
Cast of the Parthenon frieze at University Campus Suffolk |
I am also helping to raise money for the St Mary at the Quay project in Ipswich that will be converted into a 'wellbeing heritage centre'. This is being administered by Suffolk Mind and the Churches Conservation Trust. So if readers of LM would like to sponsor my attempt to walk 10,000 steps every day (for the next four weeks) they can do so here ... and help part of Ipswich's medieval heritage.
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Recovered Treasures
UNESCO has mounted a small exhibition of "Recovered Treasures" in Paris (June-July 2012). A short description is provided:
Source: MiBAC |
Monday 25 June 2012
Princeton Returns: a discussion
Source: MiBAC |
The discussion piece also notes some of the other North American museums that have acquired material once owned by Edoardo Almagià, including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Tampa Museum of Art, and Boston's Museum of Fine Art.
I conclude with the question: "How can Princeton proceed and seek to restore its patinated reputation?"
Reference
Gill, D. W. J. 2012. "Context matters: Princeton and recently surfaced antiquities." Journal of Art Crime 7: 59-66.
Saturday 23 June 2012
Toledo: first stage over?
Etruscan hydria |
True was indicted last April by Paolo Ferri, a tenacious Italian prosecutor who had been working on the case for many years. The primary evidence was Polaroid photos of thousands of allegedly looted antiquities, some still covered in dirt, which had been discovered in a Swiss warehouse belonging to Giacomo Medici, a Maserati-driving Italian dealer. While True is the only major museum curator to have been indicted by Ferri, the Getty is not the only U.S. museum to own objects that appear in the photographs. So do New York's Metropolitan Museum, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Princeton University Art Museum, according to Italian court records.As well the J. Paul Getty Museum, each of the museums noted in the article have returned objects to Italy. Boston led the way in a prompt and dignified manner, although museums such as Minneapolis and Toledo have rather let the affair drag out.
Friday 22 June 2012
Toledo and implications for other collections
Etruscan hydria due to be returned to Italy |
Following a January 2010 lead from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigation’s (ICE HSI) Rome attaché, Cleveland-based HSI special agents launched an investigation into the true provenance of the artifact. Working closely with law enforcement officials in Italy, HSI agents were able to definitively establish that the documentation provided to the Toledo Museum of Art was falsified and part of a larger scheme by the Becchinas to sell illegitimately obtained cultural property.This suggests that the collecting history (please can we stop using the misleading term provenance?) for the Etruscan hydria had been "falsified".
So is the falsification of the documentation of the hydria a single example or a one off? It is a theme I have explored before (and I cited two examples linked to Palladion Antike Kunst run by Rosie Becchina). It is relevant to a Roman janiform head recently returned to Italy.
But what about other material? What about the pair of statues, Castor and Pollux, on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art? What is their association with Becchina?
And what about the Minoan larnax and the archaic pithos in the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Art at Emory University? What does the Becchina archive tell us?
But it is not just North American museums that should be worried. The suspicion also turns to the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, and the Miho Museum in Japan.
Thursday 21 June 2012
Toledo to return Etruscan hydria
Etruscan hydria due to be returned to Italy |
A full story in the Toledo Blade can be found here. What is so surprising is that it has taken the museum so long to decide to return the piece.
I am grateful to Fabio Isman for drawing my attention to the story.
Freedom of Information and Coins
In 2009 I noted the filing of papers by Scott A. Hodes on behalf of "non-profit numismatic groups". This was followed by the turning down of the request. Last week I observed the ruling that there had indeed been no "cover up" by the US State Department.
Hodes has now issued a statement about the appeal. But he has also been less than transparent. He refers to comments made by an "ancient coin collector" without noting that this same "collector" is in fact a paid Washington lobbyist for the three numismatic organisations who appear to have fronted the FOIA request.
It is also interesting that the IAPN and the PNG continue to be silent on the FOIA request made in their names.
Hodes has now issued a statement about the appeal. But he has also been less than transparent. He refers to comments made by an "ancient coin collector" without noting that this same "collector" is in fact a paid Washington lobbyist for the three numismatic organisations who appear to have fronted the FOIA request.
It is also interesting that the IAPN and the PNG continue to be silent on the FOIA request made in their names.
Friday 15 June 2012
No cover up: coin conspiracy theory falls
I note that the Courthouse News service is reporting that there was no concealment of evidence as alleged by the IAPN, the PNG and the ACCG. This must come as a blow to the paid Washington lobbyist who has argued for a cover-up.
This will hopefully bring an end to the shameful attack on the late Dr Danielle Parks whose emails have been the subject of interest by the request made by the three organizations.
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Wednesday 13 June 2012
Heritage and Greece
The S.E.A. in Greece has issued a video highlighting the issues relating to the theft of cultural property in Greece.
The video is set in the National Museum, Athens, where some of the objects returned from North American public and private collections have been placed on display.
Tuesday 12 June 2012
Christie's and the unsold Canosan kraters
It appears that the pair of Canosan kraters offered by Christie's and identified by Christos Tsirogiannis in the Medici Dossier were left unsold. I understand that they failed to reach their reserve price.
What is interesting is that Christie's seemed to press ahead with the sale even though it appears that they were contacted by the Italian authorities.
Did Christie's undertake its own independent research? How rigorous is its due diligence process?
In April this year Christie's returned material to Italy that had been identified from similar photographic evidence.
What is interesting is that Christie's seemed to press ahead with the sale even though it appears that they were contacted by the Italian authorities.
Did Christie's undertake its own independent research? How rigorous is its due diligence process?
In April this year Christie's returned material to Italy that had been identified from similar photographic evidence.
Friday 8 June 2012
Tom Campbell and transparency
© David Gill |
Perhaps transparency does not extend to disclosure about the nature of the material returned to Italy from the collection of former curator Dietrich von Bothmer.
Would the Met like to issue a statement about this return even if it is five months after the event?
Thursday 7 June 2012
Christie's and the Art Loss Register
The Art Loss Register (ALR) states on its website that it "searches all auction catalogues and private sales for Christies to identify before sale any items which are registered as stolen, fake, missing, looted". The ALR continues: "This is the foundation of due diligence to ensure that the buyers obtain good title free of disputes."
This is a bold claim. Are all looted antiquities documented and photographed? Do looters submit their photographs to the ALR? So the statement assumes that looted antiquities have to be registered.
And what if objects in one of the auctions are identified from one of the photographic dossiers seized in Switzerland and Greece? Will Christie's only respond if the ALR makes the identification?
And does the work of the ALR guarantee that "buyers obtain good title free of disputes"? What if the Italian authorities make the identification themselves and approach the auction-house directly?
The wording is clearly intended to reassure potential buyers. But does it?
This is a bold claim. Are all looted antiquities documented and photographed? Do looters submit their photographs to the ALR? So the statement assumes that looted antiquities have to be registered.
And what if objects in one of the auctions are identified from one of the photographic dossiers seized in Switzerland and Greece? Will Christie's only respond if the ALR makes the identification?
And does the work of the ALR guarantee that "buyers obtain good title free of disputes"? What if the Italian authorities make the identification themselves and approach the auction-house directly?
The wording is clearly intended to reassure potential buyers. But does it?
Christie's Ignores Italy?
Christie's still seems to be planning to auction the pair of Canosan kraters identified by Christos Tsirogiannis from the Medici Dossier. Has Christie's received requests from the Italian authorities to withdraw the kraters from the sale? Is Christie's ignoring such requests?
Such an attitude seems to follow a pattern for this auction-house.
Such an attitude seems to follow a pattern for this auction-house.
More Medici material in New York
Cambridge University researcher Christos Tsirogiannis has identified a further item featured in the Medici Dossier and due to be auctioned in New York tomorrow. The piece had formed part of a Swiss collection that Christopher Chippindale and I discussed in 1993.
Monday 4 June 2012
Jubilee Celebrations
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