Saturday, 2 July 2016

Images seized in Greece and an amphora attributed to the Bucci painter

Source_ Dr Christos Tsirogiannis
Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has drawn my attention to an Attic Attic black-figured neck-amphora attributed to the Bucci painter that is due to be auctioned at Christie's London, King Street on Wednesday 6 July 2016 (lot 52). The estimate is £15,000-£25,000.

The collecting history is given as follows: 'Los Angeles art market, prior to 1996' and 'Private collection, UK'.

Tsirogiannis informs me about a Greek police raid on 31 January 2007 at Karavomylos in Greece. Among the seized (objects and) images  were two apparently showing this amphora. I have been informed of additional information about the people involved in the raid but will not share it here. (I understand that the information has been passed to the Greek police, Interpol, and Scotland Yard.)

However it is a matter of urgency for Christie's to demonstrate their due diligence process for this neck-amphora. What is the authenticated collecting history for the amphora? Who handled the piece in Los Angeles? What is the documentation? Who else handled the amphora? Who made the attribution?

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