The Keros Haul and the Leonard Stern Collection

Figures identified with the Keros Haul in the Stern Collection

Back in 2014 LM noted 5 Cycladic figures (or fragments of figures) that were identified as coming from the Keros Haul. They can be identified in P. Sotirakopoulou, The "Keros Hoard": myth or reality? Searching for the lost pieces of a puzzle (Athens: N.P. Goulandris Foundation - Museum of Cycladic Art, 2005) as:

• Keros 170: Stern 138. Attributed to the Karlsruhe/Woodner Sculptor.
• Keros 180: Stern 177. Attributed to the Copenhagen Sculptor.
• Keros 181: Stern 157. Attributed to the Copenhagen Sculptor.
• Keros 223: Stern 181. Getz-Gentle, PS pl. 30.
• Keros 242: Stern 111. Attributed to the Ashmolean Sculptor.

Incidentally one of the Harmon pieces is specifically mentioned in the review article (D.W.J. Gill, AJA 111 [2007] 163-65).

These figures form part of the Leonard Stern collection (linked to Harmon Fine Art) that is to be passed into the Hellenic Ancient Culture Institute (HACI) based in Delaware, and then placed on loan with the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, followed by New York's Metropolitan Museum Art. The collection has been the subject of discussion in Greece ("Debate: Cycladic idol deal signals new chapter in heritage management", ekathimerini.com September 13, 2022). The article reports:

The Met first reached out to the Greek Ministry of Culture in June 2020, informing it that Stern had expressed an interest in showing and donated his collection to the American museum and was asking whether the Greek state was aware of its existence.

The answer is, of course, yes, the Stern collection was known. The collection featured in Cycladic Masterpieces (Harmon Fine Arts, 2004), and a selection of Stern's Cycladic figures had been displayed in the exhibition 'Masterpieces of Cycladic Art' at the Merrin Gallery. Further discussion from strongly-held positions appears in the article.

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The Steinhardt Sardinian figure and "the transparency of our operations"

Sardinian figure from the Medici Dossier
Source: Dr Christos Tsirogiannis / ARCA

Readers of LM will know that Max Bernheimer of Christie's made a public statement in 2010 about the 'transparency of [Chriet's] operations". He specifically said:

Provenance has always been important, and in light of recent repatriation issues, it has become paramount.

By provenance he means "collecting history".

So is the verification of the "collecting history" for the Steinhardt Sardinian figure now "paramount" for Christie's? It appears that Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has identified the figure in a polaroid from the Medici Dossier.

We can assume that Bernheimer has been in touch with the Italian authorities and sought clarification.

But while he is about it, could he confirm when and how 'Harmon Fine Arts' obtained the figure? And why not use the name of the collector behind HFA?

And what does "with the Merrin Gallery" mean anything other than HFA made a loan of the figure for an exhibition?

Potential purchasers of the figure will want to know that they will not have the Italian authorities pressing for the figure's return. After all, you would not want to spend over $1 million on a figure that could be reclaimed shortly after the auction.

Is it time for Christie's to make a public statement about the sale of the figure?

Cycladic Figures from the Keros Haul and the 'Harmon Collection'

Peggy Sotirakopoulou linked five pieces of the Cycladic 'Keros Haul' to 'Harmon, New York'. These are:
170: Spedos figure. Formerly Ian Woodner (acquired in 1968 or 1969). NAC no. 39; Harmon/Stern 2004, 40, no. 138; Getz-Gentle, PS rev. 158, no. 1 ('The Karlsruhe/Woodner Sculptor') ['Harmon coll']
180: Torso and thighs of a female figure. Formerly Halphen collection, 'since before the Second World War'; auctioned Paris, Drouot-Richelieu (December 1995). Harmon/Stern 2004, 13, no. 177.
181: Lower torso and thighs of a large female figurine. Formerly Ian Woodner, 'who acquired the figurine in 1962 or 1963'. NAC no. 41; Harmon/Stern 2004, 45, no. 157.
223: Torso and thighs of a female figurine. Formerly Jay C. Leff collection ('since the 1960s or earlier'), Julius Carlebach, New York; Sotheby's NY June 1996, lot 44. Harmon/Stern 2004, 12, no. 181.
242: The larger part of a female figurine. Formerly anonymous private collection. Harmon/Stern 2004, 39, no. 111.

Harmon Fine Arts of New York issued a catalogue, Cycladic Masterpieces (2004) [sometimes referenced as Harmon/Stern].

The Steinhardt Sardinian Figure and the Medici Dossier

Sardinian figure from the Medici Dossier.
Source: Christos Tsirogiannis / ARCA

Glasgow-based researcher Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has suggested that a Sardinian figure due to be auctioned at Christie's (December 11, 2014, lot 85) is linked to the Medici Dossier of polaroid photographs. The estimate is $800,000-$1,200,000.

The upper part of the head has been damaged in the Polaroid photograph, although no comments about restoration are made in the lot notes.

The figure is the stated as coming from the Michael and Judy Steinhardt Collection. Its earlier collecting history is stated as:

• Harmon Fine Arts, New York. 
• The Merrin Gallery, New York, 1990 (Masterpieces of Cycladic Art from Private Collections, Museums and the Merrin Gallery, no. 27). 
• Acquired by the current owner, 1997.

The due diligence search will no doubt have alerted the staff at Christie's and the agency they used to possible concerns. So, for example, was Harmon linked to some of the fragmentary Cycladic figures derived from the 'Keros Haul'?

The Merrin Gallery is linked to Roman bronze known as 'The Merrin Zeus' that was returned to Italy. Only last year there were issues about the sale of the Symes Pan at Christie's. And the marble statues of the Dioskouroi on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art were handled by the same gallery. We also recall that pots in the Borowski collection were derived from Merrin. (For a review of the Merrin Cycladic exhibition in the New York Times see here with a mention of the Sardinian figure.)

Then there is Steinhardt as a collector of such things as a gold phiale that has been returned to Sicily. What about the alleged link with the tomb painting from Paestum seized at a North American airport? Steinhardt has been associated with Cycladic figures. Steinhardt is also linked to Christie's where he is listed as a member of the Advisory Board.

Yet is there more information about the Sardinian figure? Suzan Mazur discussed the exhibition at the Merrin Gallery back in 2006 ('Merrin Gallery In Italy's Antiquities Dragnet?'). She noted:

[Leonard] Stern owned 10 Cycladic marbles and loaned all of them to Merrin for the show: Six Spedos pieces; a Dokathismata female (2400-2300 BC); the Anatolian "Stargazer" (3000-2500 BC) worth $1 millon and previously belonging to Nelson Rockefeller; a Sardinian female figure from the Ozieri culture (2000 BC); and a Cycladic female (2800-2700 BC) said to be from the same source as the Met's Cycladic "Harp Player". The Harp Player is a fake -- according to Met Ancient Near East expert Oscar White Muscarella. 

The collection was housed at the time in Stern's Fifth Avenue townhouse aka Harmon Fine Arts Gallery, which did "sizeable transactions" in antiquities Stern told me in a phone call. Stern's secretary, warned me the address was not for publication and she said Stern used a second gallery when he needed additional space.

So is the appearance of 'Harmon Fine Art' in the Christie's catalogue an alternative to stating 'Leonard Stern'? Was the figure only exhibited with Merrin? (For Stern as a collector see 'Dynasty in Distress', Bloomberg.)

So if Mazur is right, and Leonard N. Stern was the former owner, where did Stern acquire the figure?

And who purchased the figure from Medici?

Christie's would be wise to re-investigate the collecting history of the figure as a matter of urgency. Have they contacted the Italian authorities?