New Returns to Italy Announced: Some Linked to Edoardo Almagià

Source: Manhattan DA

It was announced today that 142 antiquities will be returning to Italy (Press Release, "D.A. Bragg Returns 142 Antiquities Valued at Nearly $14 Million to the People of Italy", July 20, 2022). The returns consisted of 

"60 were recovered from Royal-Athena Galleries, 48 were recovered from STEINHARDT, and an additional 34 were seized pursuant to other ongoing investigations".

The Steinhardt material included:

Among the items being repatriated today is the Ercolano Fresco, which was seized as part of the investigation into STEINHARDT. Depicting an infant Hercules strangling a snake, the piece dates to 50 C.E. and was looted in 1995 from a villa in Herculaneum, an archaeological site that was buried for millennia under volcanic ash from the fiery eruption of Mount Vesuvius. STEINHARDT purchased the Ercolano in 1995 for $650,000 with no verifiable prior provenance. It is currently valued at $1,000,000.

Other items identified include:

Three fresco paintings dating to the 4th century B.C.E. from Paestum, an ancient Greek city located in southern Italy, which were seized pursuant to an ongoing investigation. These paintings depict scenes of mourning women, and were hacked from the wall of a tomb by looters.

An Archaic pithos (storage jar) dating back to 700 B.C.E. that was seized pursuant to an ongoing investigation into Edoardo ALMAGIÀ, an Italian native and former New York resident.

The press release also acknowledges the following museums and a single gallery:

Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston, Royal-Athena Galleries, and the Toledo Museum of Art

One wonders if the Indiana material is linked to Almagià. 

The Boston material includes 9 pots apparently derived from Crustumerium in Latium that was acquired in 1995:

Probably about 1993/1994, illicitly excavated from Crustumerium, Italy and sold to Edoardo Almagià, New York; 1995, sold by Almagià to Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried, New York; 1995, year-end gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to the MFA (Accession Date: January 24, 1996); December 16, 2021, deaccessioned by the MFA for transfer to the New York County District Attorney and return to the Republic of Italy.

So far Boston is the only museum that appears to have provided full information.

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Boston and Almagia

Boston's Museum of Fine Art has the following objects listed as linked to Edoardo Almagià (and noted back in 2010):

• Roman imperial marble portrait statue. Inv. 1991.534. "By 1991: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022; purchased by MFA from Edoardo Almagià, May 22, 1991".
• Italian impasto kantharos. Inv. 1995.820. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto cup, Lazio. Inv. 1995.821. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto cup, Lazio. Inv. 1995.822. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto cup, Lazio. Inv. 1995.823. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto cup, Lazio. Inv. 1995.824. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto cup, Lazio. Inv. 1995.825. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto cup, Lazio. Inv. 1995.826. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto pyxis, Lazio, Inv. 1995.827a-b. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".
• Italian impasto amphora, Lazio. Inv. 1995.828. "By 1993: with Edoardo Almagià, 136 East 56th Street, New York, NY 10022 (said to have been purchased in Basel); February 15, 1995: purchased by Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried from Edoardo Almagià; gift of Jonathan Kagan and Sallie Fried to MFA, accessioned January 24, 1996".

What is the identity of the Basel source for these nine pieces of Italian impasto ware that appear to have been derived from Lazio?

Abdera Hoard Returned to Greece

The Greek press is reporting that North American coin collector Jonathan Kagan has returned a coin hoard to Greece ("Αμερικανός συλλέκτης επέστρεψε θησαυρό από τα Άβδηρα", Archaiologia online July 22, 2011 [in Greek]). It appears that the hoard surfaced on the market in 2000. The collection has been given to the Numismatic Museum in Athens. The hoard contains coins of Abdera.

The problem of identifying recently surfaced material is highlighted in the report: Η Ελλάδα δεν τα διεκδίκησε, προφανώς γιατί δεν είχε τεκμήρια για την παράνομη εξαγωγή τους από τη χώρα.

The wording of the report suggests that the return has been made voluntarily.