Drawing attention to "provenance" at the Met

Courtesy of Christos Tsirogiannis

One of largest group of repatriated material from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art was dervied from Palladion Antike Kunst and from Mr & Mrs Gianfranco Becchina.

The items include:

1. Attic bf lekythos, attributed to the manner of Elbows Out. Inv. 1985.11.3 [Until 1985, with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion, Basel, Switzerland]; acquired in 1985, purchased from the Galerie Palladion. Deaccessioned for return to Italy in September 2022. Bibl. BAPD 16461.  
2. Attic bf mastos, attributed to Psiax. Inv. 1975.11.6 [Until 1975, with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion, Basel, Switzerland]; acquired in 1975, purchased from the Galerie Palladion. Deaccessioned for return to Italy in September 2022. Bibl. BAPD 4525; Mertens 1979, 23 n. 13, pl. 9.1–4; Mertens 2010, 28–29, fig. 14. 
3. Attic bf amphora fragment, attributed to Lydos. Inv. 1985.11.1. [Until 1985, with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion, Basel, Switzerland]; acquired in 1985, purchased from the Galerie Palladion. Deaccessioned for return to Italy in September 2022. Bibl. BAPD 14695; Bothmer 1985, 40–41, 56, fig. 25, n. 48.  
4. Attic bf amphora fragment, attributed to the Amasis painter. Inv. 1985.11.2. [Until 1985, with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion, Basel, Switzerland]; acquired in 1985, purchased from the Galerie Palladion. Deaccessioned for return to Italy in September 2022. Bibl. BAPD 14683; Bothmer 1985, 34, 108, no. 17.  
5. Attic bf amphora fragment, attributed to the Amasis painter. Inv. 1985.53. [Until 1985, with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion, Basel, Switzerland]; 1985, acquired by Dietrich von Bothmer, purchased from Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion; acquired in 1985, gift of Dietrich von Bothmer. This artwork was restituted in September 2022. Bibl. BAPD 14680; Bothmer 1985, 76, no. 2bis.  
6. Attic wg cup, attributed to the Villa Giulia painter. Inv. 1979.11.15. [Until 1979, with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion, Basel, Switzerland]; acquired in 1979, purchased from the Galerie Palladion. Deaccessioned for return to Italy in September 2022. Bibl. BAPD 5330; Bothmer and Mertens 1979/80, 14–15; Mertens 1987, 59, no. 41; Picón, C.A. et al. 2007, 118, 430, no. 129; Connelly 2007, 111–12, fig. 4.19, pl. 8. 
7. Pair of gold Apulian cylinders. Inv. 1981.134.1, .2 [Until 1981, with Gianfranco Becchina]; acquired in 1981, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gianfranco Becchina. Deaccessioned for return to Italy in September 2022. 

You would think that it would make the curatorial staff at the MMA sensitive to any other material with this association. Thus, it came as a bit of a surprise that the example used in the Cycladic symposium today to show how "provenance" is displayed on the MMA website used the Cycladic figure that Christos Tsirogiannis identified from the Becchina archive. And the slide used quoted the "public" statement of previous history:

[By 1981, collection of Noroyoshi Horiuchi, Tokyo]; [until 1983, with Ariadne Galleries, New York]; 1983, acquired by Leonard Stern, purchased from Ariadne Galleries, New York; 1983-2022, collection of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Stern, New York; 2022, transferred to Greece; 2024-2034, on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the Hellenic Republic.

The mention of the Becchina association was left unmentioned in the presentation even though that particular individual has been associated with objects handled by Horiuchi.

This does not feel like a rigorous engagement with the origins of the Stern collection. 

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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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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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Attic Funerary Relief Returns to Greece

Sources: Hellas et Roma; Hellenic Ministry of Culture

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture has announced that part of a fourth century BCE Attic marble stele has been returned from an anonymous US private collection [Press Release]. The relief featured in an advertisement for the gallery Palladion Antike Kunst that appeared in the back of a 1982 exhibition catalogue produced by the Swiss-based organisation Hellas et Roma.  (The Ministry of Culture press release misleadingly suggests that the relief appeared in an exhibition catalogue implying that the stele was displayed.) A parallel for the stele was found at Kallithea in 1896; it marked the burial of Agnostrate daughter of Theodotos (Athens NM inv. 1863: cat. no. 417).

Christos Tsirogiannis has verified that images of the returning stele feature in the Becchina archive, and specifically to Nino Savoca, a dealer based in Munich. It appears that the stele first surfaced in the late 1970s. 

This stele forms part of a growing list of objects returned to Greece and Italy that had featured in the Becchina archive. Yet the Hellenic Ministry of Culture seems to be reluctant to seek the return of other objects that feature in this source, notably the Cycladic figure in the Leonard Stern collection (and currently on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the pithos, probably from Rhodes, in the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. (The Italian authorities, likewise, do not seem to have requested the return of fragmentary wall-paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museum.) 

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture

The stele fragment was returned with two other items: a fragmentary 4th century BCE funerary stele, perhaps from Thessaly, showing a woman (next to a child; note the raised hand) who holds a box; and an hellenistic bronze male figure, perhaps of an athlete. 

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The Michael C. Carlos Museum and the Becchina Archive

Image from the Becchina photographic archive courtesy of Christos Tsirogiannis;
objects in the Michael C. Carlos Museum

The Michael C. Carlos Museum has issued details of the five items that will be handed over to Italy (and three of them will remain on loan). Three of the pieces—the Laconian cup, the Attic Band Cup, and the Apulian fishplate—feature in images from the Becchina archive. The implications of the images are clear: "the fact that the Carlos could not determine where the [cup] was before it was with Palladion, there is a high probability the cup was looted".

This makes us turn to two other pieces in the Carlos Museum that feature in the Becchina archive: the Minoan larnax and the Rhodian pithos. The larnax is now only said to have been with Nikolas Koutoulakis, whereas in 2022 it was said to be 'with' Koutoulakis. What is the basis of the evidence? Does the Becchina image and paperwork suggest that it passed to other collections? Note that the larnax later passed to Noriyoshi Horiuchi in Japan.

The history for the pithos that is placed on the Carlos Museum website makes no mention of it passing through the hands of Becchina or Palladion Antike Kunst. Has the history as it has been presented been fabricated? What is the authenticated documentation for the Carlos Museum version of events? Was it supplied by the vendor, Phoenix Ancient Art? 

The curatorial staff at the Carlos Museum are clearly wanting to do, and be seen to do, the professional thing by returning objects to their countries of origin when new information comes to light. (Incidentally the pithos and larnax were discussed in the Greek press in June 2007 after they had been identified in the Becchina archive by Christos Tsirogiannis.)

Where does this leave other Becchina material in the Carlos Museum?

I am grateful to Christos Tsirogiannis for sharing the images with me.

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Michael C. Carlos Museum and Italy

Source: Michael C. Carlos Museum

There have been unannounced developments at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University (no mention in the press releases). At least three items have had their title transferred to Italy on 29 August 2023 and now appear as loans. I am grateful to Dr Cynthia Patterson who spotted the changes to the records.

The objects include:

• a Laconian cup attributed to the Rider painter (L2023.004.003). Surfaced via Palladion Antike Kunst, Basel (from at least 1988; first published by Conrad Stibbe in 1990); purchased from Palladion.
• an Attic black-figured Band Cup (L2023.004.001). Surfaced via Palladion Antike Kunst, Basel (from at least 1975 when it appeared in an advertisement in Apollo); Brian T. Aitken, Acanthus Gallery, New York.
• an Apulian volute-krater attributed to the Underworld painter (L2023.004.002). Surfaced in Galerie Hydra (Christian Boursaud), Geneva (by 1986); Pierre Sciclounoff (1926-1997), Geneva; purchased through Christoph Leon. 

Galerie Hydra is discussed in Peter Watson's, Sotheby's: Inside Story (1997). The Apulian krater appeared in: C. Aellen, A. Cambitoglou, and J. Chamay, Le Peintre de Darius et son Milieu: Vases grecs d'Italie méridionale (Hellas et Roma, vol. 4. Geneva: Association Hellas et Roma, 1986), 190–99 (Sciclounoff collection); A. D. Trendall, Red Figure Vases of South Italy and Sicily; A Handbook (London: Thames and Hudson, 1989), 261, fig. 210.

Can we presume that the Minoan larnax, known from the Becchina dossier, will be transferred to Greece in the near future? And what about the other material handled by Palladion Antike Kunst? 

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A pair of Nereids from an old Swiss collection

Two Nereids in the Louvre.
Source: Louvre

Two Apulian terracotta reliefs showing the Nereids were acquired by the Louvre in 1982 (CA 6823, CA 6824). They are alleged to have been derived from "une ancienne collection suisse" prior to 1939. However, the official museum website fails to mention this prior history.

What is key about these two Nereids is that they feature in the Becchina archive. Will the Louvre disclose the identity of the "old Swiss collection"? And what is the nature of the authenticated documentation that can demonstrate that the Nereids were known prior to 1939? 

Presumably this pair of terracottas form part of the Italian claims. Will the Louvre seek to be co-operative with the request?

What other items were acquired from Becchina or Palladion Antike Kunst?

I am grateful to Christos Tsirogiannis for advising me on the Becchina archive. The identifications were first made by Daniela Rizzo and Maurizio Pellegrini.

Besques, S. 1988. "Deux reliefs apuliens en terre cuite." Monuments et mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot 69: 1–28.

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A Roman fresco fragment and some apparent cut marks

Malibu 83.AG.222.9
Source: J. Paul Getty Museum

Among the fresco panels and fragments from ‘a wealthy Roman’s seaside villa in the area of the Bay of Naples’ acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1983 from Palladion Antike Kunst is this panel with two fish (inv.  83.AG.222.9). Someone appears, at some point prior to acquisition, to have tried to cut a square panel from the fragment.  Why would they want to damage the panel in that way? 

Is this evidence of how the panel(s) was (were) removed from the archaeological context?  Or was someone trying to cut down the panel to make it easier to move? What would have happened to the remaining section of the fragment?

Such an indication is reminiscent of the panel returned from the Shelby White collection (no. 142; 86.2 cm by 86.5 cm) that came from the same composition as two fragments from the Fleischman collection and acquired (and returned) by the Getty (nos. 125 and 126; 91 cm by 80.5 cm, 61 cm by 81 cm). [See discussion here.]

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Two octagonal panels probably from the Bay of Naples

Two octagonal panels. Malibu inv. 83.AG.222.5, 7

Yesterday I noted three panels apparently from the same room of a villa that probably stood somewhere in the vicinity of the Bay of Naples. Like the other panels, this pair of frescoes was derived from Palladion Antike Kunst in 1983. Unlike the other pieces these two are not currently on display. 

How did these fragments leave their villa and move to California? Will the curatorial team at the Getty be raising this with their Italian colleagues?

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The frescoes from a wealthy seaside villa

Three panels acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1983.
Inv. 83.AG.222.2, 4, 8.

In 1983 the J. Paul Getty Museum acquired a series of Roman frescoes on the 'European market', in fact from Palladion Antike Kunst in Basel. The Getty's handbook suggests that they are derived from ‘a wealthy Roman’s seaside villa in the area of the Bay of Naples’. 

Elizabeth Marlowe has commented on the displayed fragments, suggesting that the panels had been removed from a single room somewhere in the vicinity of Vesuvius. Indeed, there are fragments that were acquired at the same time that clearly come from a third panel, presumably from the same room. Daniela Rizzo and Maurizio Pellegrini have recently drawn attention to the problematic nature of these frescoes and published an image of a further section of the decoration that appears in the Becchina photographic archive. 

How does the Getty interpret the history of the fragments? Is the museum actively seeking to return the sequence of fragments to Italy?

References

Lapatin, K. D. S., and K. Wright. Editors. 2010. The J. Paul Getty Museum: Handbook of the Antiquities Collection. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.

Marlowe, E. 2020. "The reinstallation of the Getty Villa: plenty of beauty but only partial truth." AJA 124: 321–32. [Online]

Rizzo, D., and M. Pellegrini. 2021. "The Italian Archaeological Heritage Abroad: Between Agreements, Debates and Indifference." In Stolen Heritage: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage in the EU and the MENA Region, edited by A. Traviglia, L. Milano, C. Tonghini, and R. Giovanelli, Antichistica, vol. 29: 99–114. Venezia: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari. [Online]

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Further returns to Italy from San Antonio Museum of Art and Shelby White

Oinochoe fragment
attributed to the Harrow painter
returned from
the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Source: San Antonio Museum of Art

The Manhattan DA has reportedly returned 14 more antiquities to Italy: though the objects and images presented at the press announcement counted 16 ("D.A. Bragg Returns 14 Stolen Antiquities to Italy", Manhattan DA February 2, 2023). Two sources were acknowledged: Shelby White and the San Antonio Museum of Art. The third, the source of a silver coin, was left anonymous in the press release.

At least three of the objects appear in the Glories of the Past catalogue of the Shelby White and Leon Levy collection. The release gives further information about the Attic black-figured hydria attributed to the Priam painter.

The piece first surfaced in Italy after being looted by Giovanni Franco Becchina, a well-known antiquities trafficker. From Italy, the piece was then smuggled and laundered by Paris-based Robert Hecht. Hecht ultimately sold the piece with false provenance to Shelby White in New York County in 1989.

These add to the 14 pieces featured in the catalogue that have been returned to Greece, Italy and Turkey.

The nine pieces featured in the images at the press statement are derived from the San Antonio Museum of Art. The objects are derived from several sources: Sotheby's in London; Christie's in London and Geneva; Galerie Palladion Antike Kunst; Galerie Günter Puhze; Royal Athena Galleries; Robin Symes. For example, the oinochoe fragment attributed to the Harrow painter surfaced through Galerie Palladion Antike Kunst, and was sold to Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. by Robert Hecht.  The nine objects may be added to other pieces that were handed over in 2022. We are also expecting further details about three other objects derived from Frederick Schultz that have been handed over by the museum. 

Three other objects featuring in the press statement have yet to be linked in a formal way to a specific collection though Christos Tsirogiannis has identified two of them in the Becchina archive and one in the Schinousa archive. 

The final piece is a silver coin.

The Sicily Naxos Coin. Minted circa 430 B.C.E in the Greek colony of Naxos, on Sicily, this silver coin features the bearded Dionysus on one side and his squatting drinking partner, Silenus, on the reverse. The Sicily Naxos Coin first surfaced on the international art market in 2013, when a known trafficker offered the coin for sale with no provenance whatsoever. Prior to its appearance at a London-based auction house, a co-conspirator of the trafficker supplied false provenance for the coin. The Sicily Naxos Coin is currently valued at $500,000 and was among a group of coins seized at JFK airport as it was being smuggled into New York pursuant to an ongoing joint investigation between this Office, HSI, and Italy. At least one individual has been arrested in the course of this investigation with more to follow.

Three Shelby White pieces, nine objects from San Antonio, one silver coin, and three other pieces equal 16 objects (not 14).

Objects from the San Antonio Museum of Art and in the Shelby White and Leon Levy collection were the subject of an extended discussion by Chippindale and Gill in the American Journal of Archaeology back in 2000. 

Chippindale, C., and D. W. J. Gill. 2000. "Material consequences of contemporary classical collecting." AJA 104: 463-511. [DOI]

LM expects to add further detail to this summary in due course.

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Becchina and the Shelby White collection

Source: Manhattan DA

LM noted that two of the objects displayed by the Manhattan DA for return to Italy were in the Shelby White collection. The Attic black-figured skyphos showing Odysseus escaping from the Cave of Polyphemos  clearly appears in one of the photographs seized from the Becchina archive. 

Does this explain why the Italian authorities are revisiting the Shelby White collection? Is it because the previous returns had not taken proper account of the Becchina archive?

It would be interesting to learn how and when Shelby White and Leon Levy acquired the skyphos. Was it directly from Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion? Or was it through another party?

Incidentally, the other piece in the photograph was acquired by a separate New York collection.

It should be noted that the identification of the Shelby White skyphos was made by Associate Professor Christos Tsirogiannis. 

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Attic Pot Fragments Returning from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragment of amphora attributed to the Amasis painter. Formerly MMA inv. 1985.53.

Three of the fragments that were returned to Italy from the Metropolitan Museum of Art had been illustrated in the exhibition catalogue of the Amasis painter (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art September-October 1985; The Toledo Museum of Art, November  1985-January 1986; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, February-April 1986).

Two were attributed by Dietrich von Bothmer to the Amasis painter:

No. 2 bis: Inv. 1985.53; BAPD 14680; Search List U. Fragment of a panel amphora. Traces of a horse's mane. Attribution by Dietrich von Bothmer. 

Fragment of amphora attributed to the Amasis painter. Formerly MMA inv. 1985.11.2.

No. 17: Inv. 1985.11.2; BAPD 14683; Search List K. Fragment of a panel amphora. End of 'signature'. Attribution by Dietrich von Bothmer. 

Fragment attributed to Lydos. Formerly MMA inv. 1985.11.1.

One fragment was attributed to Lydos. It had been purchased from Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion in 1985:

(fig. 25) Fragment of a plate showing gods. Inv. 1985.11.1; BAPD 14695; Search List J. Attribution by Dietrich von Bothmer. 

All three fragments are reported on the MMA's website to have been with Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion until 1985 (the year of the Amasis painter exhibition). Fragment 1985.53 was purchased by Dietrich von Bothmer and given to the museum as an anonymous gift. 

How were these fragments 'discovered' in the very year of the exhibition? 

And what are the histories of the Amasis painter fragments purchased in the same and preceding year? How were they acquired? For some reason this information is not provided on the MMA website.

No. 18. Inv. 1984.313.2; BAPD 14656. Fragment of an amphora. Anonymous gift.  Attributed to the Amasis painter by Dietrich von Bothmer.

No. 18 bis. Inv. 1985.57.a-h; BAPD 14735. Fragments of a panel amphora; both sides. Anonymous Gift. Attributed to the Amasis painter by J.R. Guy in February 1984 'before the fragments came to New York'. 

No. 56. Inv. 1984.313.1; BAPD 14636. Fragment of a Band Cup. Anonymous gift. Attributed to the Amasis painter by Dietrich von Bothmer. 

What about the fragment of a Band Cup that was given to the museum in 1986 by Dietrich von Bothmer? What was its history?

Inv. 1986.99.6;  BAPD 9035071.

The recent return of the three pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art has started to raise questions about other pieces in the collection. 

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Metropolitan Museum of Art returns material to Italy

White ground cup attributed to the Villa Giulia painter
Source: Manhattan DA

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has now formerly returned further material to Italy ("D.A. Bragg Returns 58 Stolen Antiquities to the People of Italy", Manhattan DA Press Release, September 6, 2022). The items include an Attic white ground cup attributed to the Villa Giulia painter (inv. 1979.11.15). It had been handled by Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion. 

Another piece is the marble head of Athena reported to have been looted from a temple in Central Italy and handled by Giacomo Medici and subsequently by Robin Symes and the Acanthus Gallery (inv. 1996.178). The Medici information was not included on the museum's website.

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Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion and the Met

The news that items derived from the Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion had been the subject of a search warrant at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art suggests that other material from this same source are likely to feature in future investigations.

• 1978.11.18: Bronze handle from a shallow basin
• 1980.11.2: Attic red-figured cup fragments, attributed to the Colmar painter
• 1980.11.3: Attic red-figured cup, signed Kachrylion, attributed to the Thalia painter
• 1980.11.4: Attic red-figured cup fragments, attributed to the Colmar painter
• 1980.11.10: Attic red-figured skyphos, attributed to the Brygos painter
• 1982.11.1: Attic red-figured cup fragments, attributed to the Antiphon painter
• 1982.11.3: Attic red-figured cup fragments, attributed to the Antiphon painter

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Search Warrant for the Met

Castor and Pollux previously on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art
© David Gill

I have been reading the search warrant issued for objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (dated July 11, 2022). It includes material derived from a number of galleries:

• Acanthus Gallery (b, q) [see Getty, MMA, Stanford Place]
• Ariadne Gallery (e) [see Ariadne Galleries]
• Atlantis Antiquities (c) [see Atlantis Antiquities]
• Galerie Antike Kunst Palladion (h, i, j, k, p, t, u) [see Palladion]
• Merrin Gallery (g, t) [see Merrin Gallery]
• Royal-Athena Galleries (t) [see Royal-Athena Galleries]
• Summa Galleries (d) [see Summa Galleries]

Among the names familiar to readers of LM are:

• Aitken, Brian (b) [see Princeton]
• Becchina, Mr & Mrs Gianfranco (l) [see Becchina]
• Bothmer, Dietrich von (d, u) [see von Bothmer]
• Hecht Jr., Robert E. (c, f) [see Hecht]
• McAlpine, Bruce (s) [see Yale, Stamford Place]
• Ortiz, George (t) [see Ortiz]
• Schimmel, Norbert (a) [See Schimmel]
• Symes, Robin (b, r) [see Symes]
• Tchacos, Frieda (d) [see Tchacos]

Some of the pieces on the search warrant have been discussed by LM in the past:

• Head of Athena (b)
• Attic red-figured cup attributed to Makron (d)
• Attic black-figured lekythos attributed to the manner of Elbows Out (h)
• Apulian gold cylinders (l)
• Attic white ground cup attributed to the Villa Giulia painter (p)
• Terracotta figure of a goddess (r)
• Castor and Pollux (t)

It should be noted that the identification of the Castor and Pollux group was made by Associate Professor Christos Tsirogiannis. 

Developments in Sicily: Gianfranco Becchina

It has been reported that the assets of Gianfranco Becchina have been confiscated by a court in Sicily (Francesco Patanè, "Commercio illegale di reperti archeologici, confiscato il patrimonio al mercante d'arte Becchina", La Repubblica 25 May 2022). The report suggests that the reason was that Becchina had benefitted from the trade in recently surfaced antiquities. There is a specific link to activity at Selinunte in Sicily. 

This has implications for museums that purchased antiquities from Becchina or his gallery Palladion Antike Kunst in Basel such as the Getty where over 800 items can be identified in the online catalogue. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also has a pair of Apulian gold cylinders that were received as a gift in 1981. Other material from Palladion Antike Kunst was given by Robert Hecht (e.g. cup fragments attributed to the Colmar painter; ) or purchased directly from the gallery (e.g. a black-figured lekythos; the white ground cup attributed to the Villa Giulia painter). Moreover, the confiscation gives fresh impetus for the identification of objects that can be recognised from the Becchina archive. This includes the Minoan larnax and a pithos in the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. 

Among recent returns from north America are three Etruscan gorgon feet from a brazier that were seized from the Steinhardt collection. 

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Revised History for the Carlos Museum Pithos

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

In 2004 the Michael C. Carlos Museum acquired a relief pithos dating to the 7th century. Concerns about its acquisition had been raised in 2007. The pithos itself seems to feature in images seized from the Becchina archive suggesting that it passed through Palladion Antike Kunst. 

Yet the newly issued history of the pithos suggests a different path.

PROVENANCE Ex coll. Professor Adolphe Goumaz, Lausanne, Switzerland, from 1960. Thence by descent to Roland C. Ansermet, Neuchatel, Switzerland, by December 2003. Imported to USA in 1991. Purchased by MCCM from Phoenix Ancient Art, Geneva, Switzerland.

The museum's history makes no allowance for the pithos passing through Palladion Antike Kunst as it is claimed that it passed 'by descent' from Goumaz to Ansermet. It is also unclear who was responsible for importing the pithos to the USA in 1991. Why did the family not keep it in Switzerland? Would the Carlos Museum be able to clarify the history with a little more detail?

In 2008 Christie's offered an Attic red-figured skyphos attributed to Makron at auction that was claimed to have resided in the Goumaz collection in 1958 (BAPD 9021866). Yet the Beazley archive makes no link with Goumaz. What is the authenticated documentation linking Goumaz with this skyphos? 

Phoenix Ancient Art offered a 4th century CE menorah reported to be from the Goumaz collection in 2013 [catalogue].

We are mindful that some unsubstantiated histories have been created for objects emerging on the market: the head of Drusus Minor that was claimed to come from an old Algerian collection (but which had been removed from an archaeological store in Italy); the parallel histories [both cannot be correct] for the mummy mask currently in the St Louis Art Museum; the placing of the Leutwitz Apollo in a German estate; the marble statue of Sabina from an old Bavarian collection. This is why is it so important for museums to indicate the authenticated source or sources for the histories that are provided in the record. Doubt can always be expressed with terms such as 'said to be', 'allegedly from', or even 'the owner of the gallery assured us that ...' 

The Becchina archive suggests that there could be another explanation for the route taken by the pithos that the museum has overlooked for 15 years.

I am grateful to Associate Professor Christos Tsirogiannis for suggesting the link with the Becchina archive.

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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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Becchina and a Sardinian boat-shaped lamp

Entry from the Becchina archive
Courtesy of Dr Christos Tsirogiannis

Associate Professor Christos Tsirogiannis has identified a Sardinian boat-shaped lamb in the seized Becchina archive with what appears to be same piece shortly to be offered at auction in London.

Why does this matter? The archive clearly shows that the lamp passed through Palladion Antike Kunst in 1993. (We note that the value at SFr 60,000 shows that the piece has clearly lost its value over the years.) Yet the auction house claims that this passed into an Austrian private collection after being acquired in Vienna in the 1960s. Now, the 1960s would conveniently place the lamp in the period before the 1970 UNESCO Convention. 

But is the history supposed to be something like this? Sold in Vienna in the 1960s; acquired by an Austrian private collection; sold through Palladion Antike Kunst in Switzerland in 1993; acquired by an anonymous individual or corporate body; consigned for auction in London.

Here are the questions. Was the current vendor unaware that the lamp had passed through the hands of Palladion Antike Kunst in the 1990s? Had the auction house checked the history of the object or had they accepted the oral account? Which Vienna gallery sold the lamp in the 1960s? What is the authenticated documentary evidence? Finally, who consigned the lamp to Palladion Antike Kunst in the 1990s?

We presume that the auction house has contacted the Italian authorities.