The Geddes Collection at Auction

Bonhams managed to attract significant adverse publicity when they attempted to auction part of the collection formerly owned by Graham Geddes in 2008.

I note that the sale of antiquities next week (October 24, 2012) includes four ex-Geddes pieces:

• lot 81. Apulian red-figured hydria, attributed to the Truro painter. Surfaced: Sotheby's, London, 9 December 1985, lot 375. Exhibited: the University of Melbourne, March 1988-July 2003; the Museum of Mediterranean Antiquities, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, November 2005-April 2008 .
• lot 82. Apulian hydria, attributed to the Patera painter. Surfaced: Sotheby's London, 21 May 1984, lot 222. Exhibited: the Borchardt Library, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, March 1986-April 2008.
• lot 85. Gnathian volute krater. Surfaced: Sotheby's London, 9 Dec 1985, lot 378. Exhibited: University of Melbourne, Australia, March 1986 - February 1994.
• lot 86. Campanian red-figured neck-amphora, attributed to the Pilos Head group. Surfaced: Sotheby's London, July 11th, 1988, lot 178. Exhibited: the Museum of Mediterranean Antiquities, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, December 1989 - April 2008.

It should be noted that these four pieces surfaced at Sotheby's, London between 1984 and 1988. Such a shared "pedigree" can be noted for other Geddes pieces. The May 1984 sale is particularly significant. Will Bonhams reveal who consigned these four pieces to Sothebys in 1984, 1985, and 1988? What sort of due diligence checks have been made?

The loan of material to various Australian collections is also of note.

Some of the ex-Geddes material can now be found in the Mougins Museum of Classical Archaeology and the National Museum of Archaeology in Madrid.