Revised history for the Carlos Museum Minoan Larnax

L: image from Becchina archive.
R: larnax in Michael C. Carlos Museum

Back in 2007 Christos Tsirogiannis identified a Minoan larnax in the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University from an image in the Becchina archive showing that it had passed through Palladion Antike Kunst. The larnax had been acquired in 2002. The museum has apparently declined to negotiate with the Hellenic authorities.

Two years ago, almost to the day, I checked the history of the larnax and found that the sequence was presented as:

• Ex private collection, Switzerland, 1980s. 
• Ex private collection, Japan, 1990s. 
• Purchased by MCCM from Robert Haber & Associates, Inc., New York, New York.

The paperwork for the Steinhardt seizure mentioned the Carlos Museum larnax (due to the mention of Haber [pp. 70–71]). This has prompted me to check the museum website and found that the history of the object has been clarified and amplified.

PROVENANCE With Nicolas Koutoulakis (1910-1996), Geneva, Switzerland, late 1960s. Ex private collection, Switzerland, 1980s. Ex coll. Noriyoshi Horiuchi, Japan, 1990s. Purchased by MCCM from Robert Haber & Associates, Inc., New York, New York.

It now appears that the anonymous Japanese collection is in fact the dealer Noryioshi Horiuchi. Horiuchi was linked to Becchina as a result of the investigations as part of Operation Andromeda.  It is unclear why the museum still fails to acknowledge that the larnax passed through Palladion Antike Kunst: why is a gallery and a dealer described as a Swiss private collection? Is the Becchina image too awkward to accept?

It now appears that Koutoulakis has been added to the history with a date just prior to the 1970 Convention. What is the authenticated documentation to support this claim? Why has it taken twenty years for this information to come to light? Indeed, the association of an object with Koutoulakis should sound an alarm bell. Another Koutoulakis linked larnax is currently in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art: what is its (authenticated) prior history? (For more on Koutoulakis see here.)

Is the time fast approaching when the Michael C. Carlos Museum will return to the values held by EUMILOP in the late 1980s? A university museum needs to uphold the highest ethical standards when it comes to acquisitions as well as resolving cases when new information comes to light. 

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The anonymous history of a Minoan larnax

Minoan larnax from the Becchina archive (l), and in the Michael C. Carlos Museum (r)

The Minoan larnax in the Michael C. Carlos Museum has been provided with a 'history'.

• Ex private collection, Switzerland, 1980s. 
• Ex private collection, Japan, 1990s. 
• Purchased by MCCM from Robert Haber & Associates, Inc., New York, New York.

As the larnax appears in the Becchina photographic archive, it would be logical to identify Becchina (a dealer) as 'private collection, Switzerland'. There is no history prior to Becchina; in other words, there is no history that predates the 1970 UNESCO Convention.

The identity of the 'private collection, Japan' is not provided. But we know that Becchina had links with at least one Japanese dealer. And as the Michael C. Carlos Museum seems to describe dealers and private collections, it could be fair to assume the possibility that the 'private collection, Japan' is also a 'dealer, Japan'.

As for Robert Haber & Associates, there is an instance of them handling what appears to be ex-Becchina material. What was their due diligence process to check the history of the larnax?

A responsible university museum would have resolved an issue that was first raised in 2007. Are the museum's curatorial team unaware of the apparent Becchina link with this piece? How do they explain the movement of the larnax from Crete to Switzerland in the '1980s'? Is there any supporting documentation?

I am grateful to Associate Professor Christos Tsirogiannis who made the first identification of the larnax from the Becchina archive.

Symes and a Roman medical set

Top: medical set for auction in Paris
Bottom: image from Schinousa archive

Pierre Bergé & Associés of Paris are offering a rare Roman bronze medical set (16 May 2018, lot 236). Its recorded history is: "Ancienne collection Hishiguro, Tokyo, 1992". The catalogue entry helpfully informs us that the set probably came from a burial ("Cette trousse de chirurgien a probablement été découverte dans une sépulture ...").

The set appears to be the one that has been identified by Dr Christos Tsirogannis from an image in the Schinousa archive thus linking it to Robin Symes.

Given that the catalogue entry suggests that this piece came from a funerary context and that the history of the piece can only be traced back to 1992 (and not to 1970), questions are being raised about the set's origins.

What due diligence was conducted on the medical set prior to offering it for sale? Did Symes sell the set to Hishiguro? How did Symes obtain the set? Who sold it to him?

I understand that the appropriate authorities in France are being informed about the lot.

Further sightings on the London market

Glasgow University researcher Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has identified four items that are due to be auctioned at Christie's King Street (London) on 1 October 2015. I understand that Interpol, the Carabinieri Art Squad and Scotland Yard Art and Antiques Unit have been notified.

Three of the lots come from the Heissmeyer Collection (lots 1-34).

The Heissmeyer collection brings together vases and figural vessels of Greek antiquity from Athens to South Italy, dating from the 8th-4th century B.C. Professor Heissmeyer assembled his collection in affection for the craftsmanship of the ancient potter and painter, considering the vases his 'guests', and as such 'able to move on and delight others'. Prof. Heissmeyer published his collection in two volumes: Vasen und figürliche Gefässe aus der griechischen Antike. Katalog einer süddeutschen Sammlung, Dettelbach, 2008 and Vases and Figure-Shaped Vessels of Greek Antiquity: Catalogue of a Collection in South Germany, Schwäbisch Hall, 2015 (referred to below as 'Vasen, 2008' and 'Vases, 2015').

The pieces are:

Lot 6. Attic head vase.
Estimate: £4000-£6000.
Collecting history:

Private collection, Germany, acquired prior to 1990. with Galerie am Museum Jürgen Haering, Freiburg. Prof. H.-H. Heissmeyer collection, Schwäbisch Hall, acquired from the above in 2005 (inv. no. 32).

Publication: Vasen, 2008, no. 19 and Vases, 2015, p. 67, no. 21.
Although a number for the Beazley Archive is provided (9024860) this does not appear to refer to a specific item.
Tsirogiannis notes that a Polaroid photograph that appears to show this oinochoe features in the Becchina archive. A note shows that it was sent for restoration on 1 December 1989 to Sandro Cimicchi.


Lot 8. Attic black-figured Droop cup
Estimate: £4000-£6000.
Collecting history:

Private collection, Switzerland, acquired prior to 1980. with Galerie am Museum Jürgen Haering, Freiburg. Prof. H.-H. Heissmeyer collection, Schwäbisch Hall, acquired from the above in 1995 (inv. no. 17). 

Publication: Vasen, 2008, no. 3 and Vases, 2015, p. 15, no. 5.
Although a number for the Beazley Archive is provided (9024849) this does not appear to refer to a specific item.
Tsirogiannis notes that the cup appear to feature in the Becchina archive.  A note suggests that this was one of four cups purchased by Raffaele Monticelli on 4 March 1993. Becchina's Polaroid is marked that it was sold to 'Hae[ring]'.

Lot 16. Attic red-figured lekythos, attributed to the Sabouroff painter
Estimate: £7000-£10000
Collecting history:

Private collection, United Kingdom, acquired prior to 1980. with Galerie am Museum Jürgen Haering, Freiburg. Prof. H.-H. Heissmeyer collection, Schwäbisch Hall, acquired from the above in 1992 (inv. no. 23). Beazley Archive no. 21590.

Although a number for the Beazley Archive is provided (21590) this does not appear to refer to a specific item.
Publication: J. H. Oakley, The Achilles Painter, Mainz, 1997, pl. 181C. Vasen, 2008, no. 9 and Vases, 2015, p. 31, no. 10.
Tsirogiannis notes that the lekythos appears in the Becchina archive. A note suggests that the transaction took place in November 1978.


Lot 93. Attic red-figured lekythos attributed to the Nikon painter
Estimate: £25000-£30000
Collecting history:

Anonymous sale; Münzen und Medaillen AG, Basel, 14 November 1986, lot 213. Formerly private collection, Japan, acquired privately in 1997.

Tsirogiannis notes that this lot was confiscated in the Geneva Freeport by the Swiss authorities from Noriyoshi Horiuchi in 2008 (see Operation Andromeda). He also notes that the lekythos has been offered for sale by Phoenix Ancient Art (website) and subsequently sold. [It also features on pinterest.] It is not clear why Christie's have not provided the full collecting history for the lekythos.

It appears that Christie's has not conducted a sufficiently rigorous due diligence process to identify material from the Becchina archive. Will the auction house be withdrawing the lots prior to the sale?

I am grateful to Dr Tsirogiannis for sharing his identifications with me.

The Swing painter and the Becchina archive

Attic black-figured amphora
Attributed to the Swing painter
Becchina Archive
Source: Dr Christos Tsirogiannis

In December 2002 Christie's Rockefeller Plaza sold an Attic black-figured amphora attributed to the Swing painter for $53,775 (December 12, 2002, lot 16). It was stated as 'The property of a private collection". The amphora is listed in the Beazley Archive (no. 26090) although no other information is provided other than the sale at Christie's.

However this same amphora has resurfaced on the London market and is due to be auctioned at Christies on 15 April 2015 (lot 83). The estimate is £50,000-£70,000. The collecting history is now provided as:

• Private collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1980s. 
• Anonymous sale; Christies, New York, 12 December 2002, lot 16. 
• Private collection, New York, acquired at the above sale. 
• with Charles Ede Ltd, London, from whom acquired by the present owner in 2006. 

It is now the property of 'a gentleman'.

Were the staff at Christie's in New York unaware that the amphora had resided in a Japanese collection in the 1980s?  Why were they unable to provide that information?

This amphora is important as Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has spotted the piece in the Becchina archive. Indeed the annotations on the record card show that images of the amphora were sent to three European academics.

Becchina had links with a Japanese dealer so the private collection in Japan is not without interest.

And (part of) the stock of Becchina's Basel operation has been the subject of considerable interest since it was revealed earlier in 2015.

Will 'the gentleman' withdraw the amphora from the auction? Or will Christie's withdraw the lot?

And what does it say about the 'due diligence' search conducted by Christie's prior to the sale?

Becchina and Japan

In 2011 Fabio Isman reminded us of the likely impact of the Becchina archive. Palladion Antike Kunst handled material now in collections in Japan. These include:

• Kamakura, Japanese collection. Attic black-figured amphora. Perhaps attributed to the Antimenes painter. Palladion (1976).
• Kurashiki Ninagawa Museum (no. 34). Attic red-figured cup attributed to Makron. Palladion (1976).

This excludes material in the Miho Museum.

Roman Sarcophagus due to be returned to Italy

Source: ICE

Ric St Hilaire has written about the likely return of the Roman sarcophagus lid to Italy ("Stipulation Puts a Lid on Litigation Over Roman Sarcophagus Cover Featured in the Becchina Archive", September 22, 2014). The sarcophagus was recognised from the Becchina archive. The sarcophagus has been handled by Noryioshi Horiuchi.

Horiuchi has been at the centre of the the Italian Operation Andromeda. Some 20000 antiquities have already been seized from the dealer.

If the sarcophagus is indeed returned to Italy it will increase the pressure on the Miho Museum in Japan to resolve Italian claims on a number of objects that have also featured in the seized photographic archives.

But where are the antiquities that Horiuchi has handled over time? Who purchased them? Which other dealers are linked?

Cultural Heritage in Wartime: summary

There was an extremely fruitful workshop on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in Wartime in Swansea on Friday. Dr Laurie Rush reminded us of the key issues facing troops in action. Dr Charles Kirke placed us in a scenario in Central America where we had to plan a defence that would include archaeological sites of world heritage status. Dr Richard Osgood showed us the issues facing the MOD training grounds such as use of heavy equipment in wet weather.

More historical papers showed that the French army deployed an archaeological force at Gallipoli and in Macedonia, while the British adopted a more amateurish approach (Gill). Amara Thornton charted the development of archaeological services in the mandated territories of the Middle East following the First World War. Professor Carlotta Coccoli discussed the differences in protecting cultural heritage in Italy and Japan during the Second World War.  Dr Nigel Pollard considered the bombing in Pompeii in September 1943 against the background of the Salerno landings.

Dr Nigel Pollard should be thanked for organising such a profitable day.

Laconian krater returns to Sicily

The Italian Ministry of Culture has announced that a Laconian krater seized during Operation Andromeda has been returned to Sicily and placed on display in Gela (press release, September 24, 2010). It appears that the krater, attributed to the Hunt painter, was recognised from the press show in the Colosseum earlier this summer. The krater had apparently been in a private collection in Gela, and had then passed through the hands of Giacomo Medici and Robin Symes; at some point it is reported to have been sold at Sotheby's in London.

The krater is said to have been recovered from the basement of a Swiss accountant who is linked to the Japanese dealer Noryioshi Horiuchi.

Pots attributed to the Hunt painter include a piece identified in Madrid, formerly in the Várez Fisa collection, and a cup returned to Italy from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Looting Matters: Colosseum Setting for Return of Antiquities

Looting Matters: Colosseum Setting for Return of Antiquities

A discussion of the return over 300 antiquities to Italy from a Japanese dealer.

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri.

Operation Andromeda: Getting an Overview

In December 2008 premises in the Geneva Freeport were raided as part of a wider investigation into the antiquities market. The raid had resulted from an investigation into the activities of the London-based dealer Robin Symes. Symes has been linked to antiquities returned to Italy by the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the private collector Shelby White. The latest trail led to a Swiss-based businessman and has yielded an important dossier showing transactions.

The Geneva Freeport raid yielded some 20,000 objects. (A raid on a similar facility run by a husband and wife team in Basel in 2002 yielded some 5500 objects; 4,400, filling three trucks, were returned to Italy.) This latest raid is likely to have more impact than the ones on the Geneva Freeport facilities linked to Giacomo Medici that took place in the mid 1990s. Those seizures led directly to a series of returns from major North American public and private collections (discussed here).

As a result of the latest Geneva raid some  337 antiquities (worth 15 million euros) were returned to Italy. They were presented at a major press conference in the setting of Rome's Colosseum. Among them were 10 frescoes that appear to have come Pompeii (or the close vicinity) as well as Athenian and South Italian pottery.

The Japanese dealer who is linked to the Geneva facility has been named as Noryioshi Horiuchi. This dealer has been reported to have helped develop the collections at the Miho Museum in Japan. It appears that the Italian authorities are investigating some 50 objects in this collection. It appears that at least one of the pieces now returned to Italy as a result of the latest raid was identified thanks to images seized from the Geneva premises of Giacomo Medici. Horiuchi appears to have business connections with the dealer Gianfranco Becchina.

A number of issues remain. What will happen to the remaining antiquities that were seized in Switzerland? Will the Japanese dealer face prosecution? Will the seized documentation lead investigators to other museums and private collectors? What are the implications for the Miho Museum that is known to be under investigation?

More importantly, is this the tip of the iceberg? There have now been three major raids in Switzerland: two in Geneva and one in Basel. Will there be more? And what are the Swiss authorities doing to stop the movement of recently-surfaced antiquities across its boundaries (or at least into its freeports)?


Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri.

Operation Andromeda: Geneva, the Japanese Dealer and the Miho Museum

The return of 337 antiquities to Italy after their seizure in Geneva Freeport as part of Operation Andromeda has turned a spotlight on the Miho Museum. The reason is that the Japanese dealer whose premises were raided has been named in the Italian press as Noryioshi Horiuchi. This dealer has been linked as one of the key suppliers for the Miho Museum.

It emerged during the Rome trial of Robert Hecht that the Medici Dossier had included images of an oscillum in the Miho Museum. It also appears that there are some 50 objects in the Miho Museum that are under investigation. (Compare the 22 in Madrid.)

The authorities at the Miho Museum would be wise to open negotiations with Italian authorities before there are further damaging revelations.

Image
Composite of Polaroid from the Medici Dossier and an oscillum acquired from unstated source by the Miho Museum.

Operation Andromeda: Comment from Minister

Italian Minister for Culture, Sandro Bondi, has issued a statement thanking the Carabinieri 9 Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale) and the associated legal team for their work on the return of over 300 items from a Japanese dealer based in Switzerland.

L’operazione “Andromeda” raccoglie così i frutti di due anni di indagini, smantellando uno dei gangli del commercio internazionale illecito di beni archeologici e aprendo importanti fronti sul traffico destinato non solo a grandi collezionisti stranieri, ma anche a importanti istituzioni museali, in particolare dell’Estremo Oriente. Ringrazio il Generale Giovanni Nistri, il Procuratore Aggiunto di Roma Giancarlo Capaldo e tutti i militari del Comando Tutela Patrimonio Culturale per questo risultato straordinario”.

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri

Operation Andromeda: Detailed Report

Fabio Isman has written on the seizure of antiquities from a Japanese dealer operating out of the Geneva Freeport ("Operazione Andromeda", Il Messaggero July 17, 2010). The report names the Japanese dealer as Noryioshi Horiuchi who appears to have supplied antiquities for the Miho Museum. Colonel Raffaele Mancino confirmed that the raid on the Japanese dealer's premises in the Geneva Freeport had opened up a line of inquiry that looked to the east.

The seizures also appear to confirm links with Robin Symes and Gianfranco Becchina (see seizures in Basel).

Among the returned items were 10 Roman frescoes that appeared to have come from Pompeii, an Athenian cup attributed to the Brygos painter, a black-figured pot attributed to the Priam painter (and see the amphora in Madrid), and an Apulian pot attributed to the Darius painter.

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri.

Operation Andromeda: Further details

The story has appeared in the Italian press along with a selection of pictures (Daniela Giammusso, "Archeologia: maxisequestro, torna in Italia tesoro trafugato", ANSA July 16, 2010). The Japanese dealer is identified as "Mister X del Sol Levante" who is said to have given his full co-operation.

Giuseppe Proietti is impressed with the scale of the return: "E' uno dei più importanti recuperi eseguiti con successo fino ad oggi".

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri.

Operation Andromeda: Japanese Dealer Named

Rome-based investigator Fabio Isman has confirmed to Looting Matters that the identity of the Japanese dealer at the centre of Operation Andromeda is Noryioshi Horiuchi.

In March this year I asked if it was time for the Miho Museum to resolve the issue of disputed antiquities. (See also my article in Present Pasts.) Horiuchi is said to have been a key figure in the acquisition of the Miho Museum's collection.

Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini write in The Medici Conspiracy (p. 295):

Among the Becchina documents is an agreement signed after a creditors' meeting held in Geneva in 1991. This was a meeting held between four creditors—all Swiss antiquities dealers, of which Becchina was one—called because Horiuchi owed each of them substantial amounts of money and showed no prospect of paying.

It now looks as Horiuchi's stock has been dented by a further 15 million euros. What is more shocking is that 1500 items from the raided stock in the Geneva Freeport looked as if it came from Italy.

The curatorial staff at the Miho Museum would be sensible to come to an amicable agreement with Italy before there are any further damaging revelations.

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri

Consignments from a Japanese Dealer

The scale of  the returns from a Japanese dealer has been staggering. The Italian reports suggests a stock of some 20,000 objects. And such a supply is clearly not intended to be static. What was going to happen to the massed ranks of Apulian pots? And what has happened to previous arrays of recently surfaced antiquities?

The name of the Japanese dealer has yet to be released formally (though it will be later today). However auction-houses and dealers will need to check to see if they have done business with this individual. And museums and private-collectors will need to check the collecting histories (or "provenance") of acquisitions to make sure that they have not got material from this source.

Putting heads in the sand is not an option. The raid in the Geneva Freeport is reported to have yielded documentation.

Will we be looking at further major returns?

And if there are still people who believe that antiquities appear on the market as if by "magic" (sorry, from old European collections) then I would suggest that they will need to revise their views fairly rapidly.

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri

The Medici Dossier and the Japanese Dealer

The stock of the as yet anonymous Japanese that went on display in the Colosseum this morning was not without significance. The press photographs included a red-figured hydria. The same piece appears in Polaroids from the Medici Dossier seized in the Geneva Freeport.

It seems this is a case of "Chippindale's Law": the scale of the problem is far worse than anticipated.

Image
Press photographs © MiBAC / Carabinieri; Polaroid from the Medici Dossier, courtesy of Christos Tsirogiannis.

Operation Andromeda: From Switzerland to Rome

Earlier today the Carabinieri held a press conference at the Colosseum in Rome. They displayed 337 antiquities, worth some 15 million euros, that were returned from Geneva at the end of June 2010. They had been seized during a joint Italian-Swiss raid (Operation Andromeda) on the Geneva Freeport earlier this year. The objects appear to have been derived from archaeological sources in Lazio, Puglia, South Italy and Sicily, and Sardinia. They included a loutrophoros, a marble statue of Venus, Athenian and Apulian volute kraters, Canosan masked kraters, a Chalcidian cup, various bronze objects, Pompeian frescoes, and two Sardinian figures.

The premises were linked to a Japanese art-dealer and a Swiss businessman. Neither is named.

I note that the Miho Museum built its collection in part through a Swiss-based dealer.

Image
© MiBAC / Carabinieri

From Japan to the Colosseum: Returning Antiquities

Eyes will be on the Colosseum in Rome later today for a press release by the Italian Carabinieri. I understand that a substantial number of antiquities will be returned to Italy by a dealer closely associated with the Miho Museum.

Image
© David Gill.