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 Hermes. The head was excavated on the Caelian Hill in Rome between 1887 and 1891: it was first published in 1894.

It is reported to have been sold to Gilbert Denman in 1971 by Alfredo Turchi (Rome) and subsequently given to the museum in 1986 (inv. 86.134.145). 

Carlos A. Picón published images of the head, "which entered the newly established Department of Antiquities at the San Antonio Museum of Art in 1986", in 1995. In a footnote he claimed that it was unpublished.

The head was identified by Jörg Deterling  in 2016 who recognised it from the original Italian publications.

Picón, C. A. 1995. "Polykleitan and related sculptures in American collections: recent acquisitions." In Polykleitos, the Doryphoros, and tradition, edited by W. G. Moon: 229–45. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

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Further returns to Italy from the San Antonio Museum of Art

Source: San Antonio Museum of Art

In addition to the objects deaccessioned by the San Antonio Museum of Art in September 2025, the museum  had done the same for another group in January 2022. These were mentioned (without significant detail) in a press release from the Manhattan DA in 2023. These items included material that surfaced through various sources:

Christie's (Geneva)

Attic red-figured lekythos. Inv. 86.134.75. Surfaced through Christie’s (Geneva) May 1979; Sotheby’s (London) May 1982. 

Christie's (London)

Attic white ground lekythos. Inv. 86.134.170. Surfaced through Christie’s (London) July 1983; July 1985. 

Frederick Schultz

Attic red-figured head kantharos. Inv. 91.24. Surfaced through Frederick Schultz, 1989. 

Galerie Günter Puhze

Attic black-figured lekythos. Inv. 91.80.1. Galerie Günter Puhze, 1989. 

Palladion Antike Kunst

Attic black-figured amphora. Inv. 86.134.31. Surfaced through Palladion Antike Kunst; Sotheby’s (London) December 1981. 

Attic red-figured oinochoe. Inv. 86.134.58. Surfaced through Palladion Antike Kunst; Robert Hecht. 

Robin Symes

Portrait of Hadrian. Inv. 2005.1.81. Robin Symes; Royal-Athena Galleries; Sotheby’s (New York) June 1992. [Image identified in the Medici Dossier.]

"Dating to 200 C.E., the marble head of the Emperor Hadrian was first documented uncleaned and covered in marine encrustations in a polaroid photograph. The polaroid was recovered by Italian law-enforcement authorities during a raid of the office and warehouse of well-known antiquities trafficker Giacomo Medici in 1995. After being smuggled out of Italy by Medici and his co-conspirators, the piece was then laundered with false provenance by dealer-trafficker Robin Symes before being sold in New York County in 1992." (Manhattan DA)

Sotheby's (London)

Corinthian olpe. Inv. 93.17. Surfaced in Sotheby’s (London) July 1990; Charles Ede. 

Attic black-figured amphora. Inv. 86.134.173. Surfaced in Sotheby’s (London) July 1985. 

Attic red-figured lekythos. Inv. 86.134.79. Surfaced through Sotheby’s (London) May 1982. 

Alfredo Turchi

Head of Hermes. Inv. 86.134.145. Sold by Alfredo Turchi.

The head of Hermes was excavated in Rome in the 19th century. 

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Returns to Italy from the San Antonio Museum of Art

Source: San Antonio Museum of Art

A series of deaccessions has been made in September 2025 by the San Antonio Museum of Art. They consist of mostly South Italian pots and one Etruscan terracotta:

• South Italian oinochoe (inv. 97.8). Sold by Peter Sharrer.
• Gnathian hydria (inv. 86.119.3.a–b). Surfaced at Sotheby's (London) December 1982; sold by Atlantis Antiquities.
• Two Apulian epichyses (inv. 88.11.1.a–b). Surfaced at Sotheby's (London) December 1987.
• Paestan bell-krater (inv. 2005.1.72). Surfaced at Sotheby's (London) December 1986; Charles Ede Ltd.
• Paestan fishplate (inv. 87.17). Galerie Hydra, Geneva; Sotheby's (London) December 1986; Charles Ede Ltd.
• Etruscan terracotta figure of a woman (inv. 88.11.2). Surfaced at Sotheby's (London) December 1987.

Other items were deaccessioned in February 2021, and January 2022. 

The way that many of these pieces surfaced through Sotheby's (London) is significant. (For others from these same auctions see here.) Galerie Hydra is associated with material linked to Giacomo Medici (see here).

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Another statue associated with Bubon returns to Türkiye

The Manhattan DA has announced that a statue that has resided in the collection of Aaron Mendelsohn has been returned to Türkiye (Press Release).

The nature of the return is described:

The D.A.’s Office has been investigating looted Bubon antiquities trafficked into and through New York County since 2022. The ongoing investigation into Bubon has led to the seizure of 16 antiquities from Bubon, 15 of which have already been repatriated, collectively valued at almost $80 million. 

In this ceremony we will be returning an over-life-sized bronze statue of a “Nude Emperor” that was looted from Bubon, trafficked through Manhattan, and purchased by collector Aaron Mendelsohn. Pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement, Mendelsohn has agreed to surrender the statue of the Nude Emperor so that the D.A.’s Office can repatriate it to the people of Türkiye. Mendelsohn’s federal lawsuit challenging the Office’s investigation of the statue was also dismissed. 

“The looting into ancient sites like Bubon were extensive, and I am pleased that our investigation has yielded such significant results. I thank the work of our prosecutors and analysts for their dedication to uncovering these trafficking networks that target ancient sites rich with cultural heritage,” said District Attorney Bragg. 

“It takes real courage to challenge what is unjust. Today, the dedicated Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the DA’s Office is repatriating artifacts stolen from the Turkish people decades ago. The strong partnership we have built and sustained with determination has carried our national efforts onto the international stage. These restitutions not only reunite the heroes of these cases, but also send a clear message to the world: do not buy cultural property removed illegally from its country of origin. This is how a single return becomes a powerful tool against illicit excavations—and why this work matters more than ever,” said Gökhan Yazgı, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye. 

In the 1960s, individuals from a village near Bubon began plundering a Sebasteion, an ancient shrine with monumental bronze statues of Roman emperors and selling those looted antiquities to smugglers based in the coastal Turkish city of Izmir. Working with Switzerland-based trafficker George Zakos and New York-and-Paris-based trafficker Robert Hecht, they unlawfully removed the looted antiquities from Türkiye, transporting them to Switzerland or the United Kingdom, and then onward to the United States or other European destinations. Once the statues were in the United States, New York-based dealers such as Jerome Eisenberg’s Royal-Athena Galleries and the Merrin Gallery funneled the stolen Bubon bronzes into museum exhibitions and academic publications thereby laundering the pieces with newly crafted provenance. As the Bubon pieces graced the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Worcester Museum of Art, and the Fordham Museum of Art, the reputational value of the institutions that displayed the Bubon pieces increased and the financial value of the statues grew.

Other bronzes associated with Bubon are mentioned here. We look forward to his major group of bronze sculptures being displayed in the same space.

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Düver fragments returned to Türkiye from Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Source: VMFA

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has announced that it has deaccessioned 41 fragments of the Düver frieze that it acquired in the 1970s (Press Release). Details of the acquisition were provided:

In 1978, VMFA purchased 34 terracotta reliefs from Summa Galleries in Beverly Hills, California, and six additional reliefs were received as gifts from Chicago-based antiquities dealer Harlan J. Berk. The following year, Summa Galleries gave another relief to VMFA, resulting in 41 polychrome terracotta relief fragments from the temple being added to the museum’s collection.

A fragment from a separate New York private collection had been returned in 2022. 48 fragments of the frieze had been returned from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in 2024.

Other museums with parts of the frieze will no doubt be contacting the authorities in Türkiye.

These returns show that the 1970 UNESCO Convention is no longer the benchmark for making the case for repatriations. 

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Head of Demosthenes returns to Türkiye

Head of Demosthenes
Source: New York MMA

Back in November I noted that New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art had returned a marble portrait of Demosthenes to Türkiye. The head was acquired in 2012 (inv. 2012.479.9). The stated collecting history (sometimes known as "provenance") is as follows:

Mussienko Family Collection, Maryland, 1973. Sold by Fortuna Fine Arts, New York, to Ariadne Gallery, New York, in 1987. Sold by the Ariadne Gallery to Morris Pinto, New York, before December, 1992. Consigned by Morris Pinto to Christie’s New York, December 15, 1992, lot 14, passed in. Consigned by Morris Pinto to the Acanthus Gallery, New York. Acquired by Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer from the Acanthus Gallery, New York, before 1998. Given by Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2012.

The head was published in:

Zanker, P. 2016. Roman Portraits: Sculptures in Stone and Bronze in the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pp. 36-38, no. 9.

The portrait now features in a press release from the Manhattan DA:

This sculpture originated in Türkiye near the modern city of Izmir and first appeared on the art market in the possession of the New York-based Ariadne Galleries, before passing through the hands of several private collectors until it was donated to the Met in 2012. Ariadne Galleries allegedly falsely claimed that it had bought the Marble Head from Fortuna Fine Arts—claiming to have done so two years before Fortuna Fine Arts even existed. Ariadne and Fortuna, which is currently under indictment in federal court for fraud, also allegedly falsely claimed that the Marble Head had previously been in the collection of Boris Mussienko—a name Fortuna and other galleries allegedly frequently used to create false provenance. Law enforcement seized the Marble Head from the Met in 2025.

For clarification the head was seized in September 2025. For other material associated with "Mussienko" see here.

Again this is a reminder of the need to authenticate the collecting histories before making acquisitions.

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Two lots withdrawn from Bonham's sale

Becchina Archive

Source: Christos Tsirogiannis.

Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has identified two lots that were due to be auctioned at next week's sale of antiquities at Bonham's (4 December 2025). Both feature in the Becchina archive. They have now been withdrawn (along with lot 126).

Lot 15 is a South Italian terracotta figure. It was said to have been in a private collection in France in 1979 before entering the Nina Borowski collection in the 1990s. It is reported to be part of unnamed private collection in Switzerland. The entry in the Palladion Antike Kunst records suggest that it was part of an unnamed Swiss private collection.

Lot 123 is an Attic red-figured pelike showing an Eros on horseback currently in the Lloyd and Jeanne Raport collection. Tsirogiannis informs me that the pelike was consigned by Becchina to Sotheby's in London on 17 May 1983 (lot 264).

Did the staff at Bonham's attempt to authenticate the information relating to the collecting histories (so-called "provenance") prior to the sale? 

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An Analysis of the Stern Collection of Cycladicising Art

The loan exhibition of the Leonard N. Stern collection of Cycladicising art at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has been drawing much attention. Our detailed analysis has just been published by Mediterranean Archaeology.

Gill, D. W. J., and C. Tsirogiannis. 2025. "The Stern Collection of Cycladic Figures and the Metropolitan Museum of Art." MeditArch 38: 1–24.

The structure of the article is as follows:

I. Introduction 

II. The Formation of the Stern Collection 

III. Cycladic Figures in Public Exhibitions and Key Publications 

IV. From Cycladic Master to Cycladic Sculptor 

V. The Sources of Cycladic Figures Known Before 1970 

VI. Potentially Looted Material 

VII. Potential Forgeries 

VIII. The Rest of the Cycladic Collection 

IX. Repatriation or Loans: The Political Dimension 

X. Conclusion

Two other studies of the Stern collection have appeared:

Gill, D. W. J. 2025. "Artwashing the Cyclades: The Leonard N. Stern Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." BMCR.

Gill, D. W. J. 2025. "Leonard Stern Collection of Cycladic Antiquities". Museum of Looted Art.

There is a shorter discussion of the Stern collection in this study of Cycladic figures:

Tsirogiannis, C., D. W. J. Gill, and C. Chippindale. 2025. "A Corrupt Cycladic Corpus of Marble Figures." Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies 13: 203–33. [DOI]

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Hecht fragment returns to Italy

Source: MMA

In January 2024 New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art deaccessioned the foot of an Attic black-figured band cup related to the Lysippides painter (inv. 2017.18; BAPD 340463). The fragment surfaced with Hesperia Arts in Philadelphia in 1957 and was discussed by Sir John Beazley in 1961. It then passed into the hands of Münzen und Medaillen in Basel (1963) and was then sold to the Toledo Museum of Art (inv. 63.25). It featured in the first fascicule of the CVA (1976). The fragment was deacessioned and sold through Christie's, New York (October 25, 2016, lot 15).

A press release (February 18, 2025) from the Manhattan DA informs us:

The Kylix was found and illegally excavated from the Etruscan archaeological site of Vulci in the 1960s before it was smuggled out of Italy by the New York and Paris-based dealer Robert Hecht.

In fact, the cup must have been removed in the 1950s (or earlier). But what is the basis of this new evidence?

More importantly, what does it means for museums that acquired items that passed through Hesperia Arts in the 1950s and 1960s? Eight items appear in the Beazley Archive Pottery Database, including a clutch formerly in the collection of J.V. Noble. There are even more pieces listed under "Philadelphia market": a quick check on some of the pieces quickly established a named link with Robert Hecht or Hesperia Arts. And I noted another black-figured amphora that certainly passed through Hesperia Arts but that information was not recorded on BAPD. 

Is Italy now pursuing items that surfaced well before the 1970 UNESCO Convention? Will this result in a further set of returns?

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Further returns to Greece from the Met

Source: Hellenic Consulate General in New York

In September 2025 a number of antiquities were seized from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and at least six formed part of the return to Greece announced at the beginning of October. All have been acquired from Andrés A. Mata in 2001 and 2004, and all had been purchased from Fortuna Fine Arts. They include two stone axe heads (2004.342.3–4), a Cretan or Cycladic terracotta jug (2004.342.2), a Cycladic collared jar (2004.342.1), and two iron swords (2001.346, 2001.543). One of the swords was given to the museum in honour of Carlos A. Picón. 

A further piece was mentioned in the press release, an archaic bronze gorgon applique. It had apparently surfaced through Robert Hecht, who sold it to Fortuna Fine Arts. It then added: 

Fortuna then falsely claimed that the Gorgon came from William Froelich, a name frequently used by Fortuna and other galleries in its false provenance. Thereafter, the Gorgon was sold to a private collector who placed the antiquity on loan at the Met. The Antiquities Trafficking Unit seized the Gorgon from the Met in 2025. 

This appears to be the figure that formed part of the exhibition, ‘Dangerous Beauty’, and was identified as coming from the collection of Andrés A. Mata. (The figure can be seen in press photograph of the October 2025 handover.)

Another gorgon applique that passed through Fortuna Fine Arts was acquired by the Carlos Museum at Emory University in 2017: it was a gift of Mata, Sybil and Ed Ralston, and Judy and Michael Steinhardt (2017.025.001). Mata also gave an inscribed bronze hydria rim to the museum in 2014 in honour of Jasper Gaunt (2014.023.001). 

The mention of Froelich is important as it appears, in connection with Fortuna Fine Arts, in the history of a Tarentine limestone funerary relief acquired by the Met in 2013. Froelich and Fortuna came together in the history of a Canosan terracotta figure of Zeus that was withdrawn from a sale at Christie’s. The history also mentions Boris Mussienko. This name appears against a bronze Aphrodite on loan to the Met from a private collector and returned to Italy.

Fortuna then falsely claimed that the Statuette came from Boris Mussienko, a name frequently used by Fortuna and other galleries in its false provenance. Thereafter, the Statuette was sold to a private collector who placed the antiquity on loan at the Met. The Antiquities Trafficking Unit seized the Statuette from the Met in 2025.

The Met seizures may well have serious implications for other collections.

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Lions from the archaic Panionion

Source: MMA

In 1992 three terracotta antefixes decorated with the heads of lions were acquired by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (1992.36.1, 2, 3). Their histories were supplied:

[With George Zakos (1911-1983), Basel, Switzerland]; after 1983, with Janet Zakos (d. 2003); 1980s, purchased from Janet Zakos by Robert E. Hecht, Jr.; [until 1992, with Robert E. Hecht, Jr.]; acquired in 1992, gift of Robert E. Hecht, Jr.

Hans Lohmann's work at what has been identified as the archaic Panionion sanctuary (MYK 139) on Mykale to the north-east of Priene has found two lion-head antefixes. He then notes: 

Three identical antefixes which are evidently made from the same mold were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art at New York in 1992, but evidently came from this site.

Zakos has been linked to a number of controversial acquisitions of objects that had clearly been derived from Türkiye. They include the acquisition between 1966 and 1970 of a major hoard of Lydian silver plate by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA): this has been returned to Türkiye. Another major acquisition was the Sion Treasure of Byzantine silver that was acquired by Dumbarton Oaks in 1966. The treasure is reported to have been found in a field to the west of Kumluca in Lycia: the site seems to have been that of the city of Kordylla. The plate may have been associated with a church in the city or perhaps a nearby monastery: an inscription identifies ‘Holy Sion’. 

Antefix from the archaic Panionion
Source: Hans Lohmann

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Byzantine Capital Returned to Türkiye

A marble Byzantine capital showing the archangel Michael has been returned to Türkiye from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 1983.167) [JSTOR]: it has been placed on loan at the museum (L.2025.28). The history (so-called "provenance") of the piece is as follows:

Possibly from the monastery of the Virgin Peribleptos, or All-Seeing (now the Sulumanastir, Istanbul); [Robin Symes Limited, London (sold 1983)]; Deaccessioned for transfer of title to Türkiye in September 2025

This adds to the growing list of objects linked to Robin Symes that have been repatriated to Greece, Italy and Türkiye. 

The capital is said (by whom?) to have been found near to the Sulu Manastir. If so, did the Met explore when the capital had left Türkiye? And should such an association be treated with caution?

Evans, H. C., M. Holcomb, and R. Hallman. 2001. "The Arts of Byzantium." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 58.

Evans, H. C. Editor. 2004. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. No. 50. [Online]

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Returns to Greece from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art

Source: MMA

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that it returned 12 antiquities to the Hellenic Republic of Greece in October. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it is returning 12 objects to the Hellenic Republic of Greece, including: four pieces of jewelry, two iron machaira (swords), two bronze belt clasps, two terracotta jugs, and two stone axe heads, and one group of silver spirals. The archaeological works range in date from 2700 BCE to 400 BCE. The works range in date from 2700 BCE to 400 BCE. Through the Museum’s cooperation with the Manhattan DA’s office, and as a result of its investigation into Fortuna Fine Arts, the Museum recently received new information that made it clear that the works should be repatriated, resulting in a constructive resolution.

The return is presumably part of this oblique press release from the Manhattan DA that acknowledges help from Fortune Fine Arts. Some of the items can be recognised here.

Although the press release does not give further details (and the press release list is not entirely accurate), these items can be identified as:

• gold pendant, [1999.12] 
• [Until 1999, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc., New York]; acquired in 1999, purchased from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• two silver bracelets [1991.170.1] [1991.170.2]
• [Until 1991, with Selim Dere, New York]; acquired in 1991, gift of Selim Dere. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• Gold and silver bracelet, [1993.314]
• [Until 1993, with Selim Dere, New York]; acquired in 1993, anonymous gift. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• two iron machaira (swords), [2001.346] [2001.543]
• [Until 2001, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc.]; acquired in 2001, purchased from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• [Until 2001, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc., New York]; 2001, purchsed by Andres A. Mata from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc.; acquired in 2001, gift of Andres A. Mata, in honor of Carlos A. Picon, 2001. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• two Macedonian bronze belt clasps, [2001.578] [2001.579]
• [Until 2001, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc.]; acquired in 2001, purchased from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• 2001.579: Purchase, Mrs. Constance Goulandris Gift, in memory of Christos G. Bastis, 2001
• Cycladic or Cretan terracotta jug,  [2004.342.2]
• [Until 2004, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc., New York]; June 2004, purchased by Andres A. Mata from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc.; acquired in 2004, gift of Andres A. Mata. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• Cycladic collared jar, [2004.342.1]
• [Until 2004, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc., New York]; June 2004, purchased by Andrés Mata from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc., New York; acquired in August 2004, gift of A. Mata. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• two stone axe heads, [2004.342.3]] [2004.342.4]
• [Until 2004, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc., New York]; June 2004, purchsed by Andres A. Mata from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc.; acquired in August 2004, gift of Andres A. Mata. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.
• one group of silver spirals. [1992.367.1–.6a, b]
• [Until 1992, with Selim Dere, New York]; acquired in 1992, anonymous gift. Deaccessioned for return to the Hellenic Republic in September 2025.

Other pieces of interest (not apparently discussed in the press release) include:

• a terracotta figure returned to Italy [2000.39]
• Private collection, England; [until 2000, with Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc.]; acquired in 2000, purchased from Fortuna Fine Arts, Inc. Deaccessioned for return to the Republic of Italy in September 2025.
• See Manhattan DA press release for mention of Fortuna Fine Arts
• a marble head of Demosthenes returned to Türkiye [2012.479.9]
• Mussienko Family Collection, Maryland, 1973. Sold by Fortuna Fine Arts, New York, to Ariadne Gallery, New York, in 1987. Sold by the Ariadne Gallery to Morris Pinto, New York, before December, 1992. Consigned by Morris Pinto to Christie’s New York, December 15, 1992, lot 14, passed in. Consigned by Morris Pinto to the Acanthus Gallery, New York. Acquired by Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer from the Acanthus Gallery, New York, before 1998. Given by Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2012. Deaccessioned for return to the Republic of Türkiye in September 2025.

The press release remarks:

As part of a commitment to transparency, The Met has launched object webpages for all restituted works of art, specifying that the object has been returned and to what country.

It would be helpful, in the spirit of transparency, if the so-called provenance team provided more precise information about their returns. A concerted effort to tidy up the "repatriated objects" page would be a start.

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More returns from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tarentine funerary relief
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Manhattan DA has provided limited details about the recent return of antiquities to Italy [August 6, 2025; press release]. A cluster of items seems to be derived from Tarentum, and includes three fragments of a funerary relief that were sold to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1996 by Robin Symes. All had a reported history that suggested that they had been in an anonymous English private collection from the 1950s. Two of the returning items–a limestone column capital and a capital fragment from a naiskos—were gifts by the Aboutaam family in 1995. This group of material should alert other museums that hold Tarentine material supplied by Symes.

Among the 31 antiquities being returned to Italy is a fragmentary Attic black-figured column-krater attributed to Lydos. The fragments were derived from Robin Symes and additional fragments from the Rosens and Dietrich von Bothmer.

The Met has yet to issue a press release about its return.

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Lydian Hoard: More Returns to Türkiye

Source: New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has returned two more pieces of silver from the Lydian Hoard. They consist of a silver phiale (inv. 1980.11.13; Bothmer, Treasury no. 25) and a silver oinochoe (inv. 1980.11.16; Bothmer, Treasury no. 40). Both were purchased from the Classical Purchase Fund / The Bothmer Purchase Fund.

The history ("provenance") of the pieces is as follows:

Reputedly, collection of the family of Elizabeth Ebnöther, Zurich, Switzerland; [by 1980, with Galerie Nefer, Zurich]; acquired in 1980, purchased from Galerie Nefer. Deaccessioned for return to the Republic of Türkiye in June 2025. 

The press release from the Manhattan DA notes the association with Frieda Tchacos.

The use of "reputedly" to link objects to specific collectors is similar to the "reportedly" used for pieces in the Stern Cycladicising collection (discussed in BMCR).

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