Steinhardt and the Berlin painter oinochoe

Among the pots in the exhibition, The Berlin painter and his world, was an oinochoe (shape 1) from the Judy and Michael Steinhardt collection in New York (BN44; not in BPAD). The description is given:

Youth in himation leaning on stick to right, dropping red tidbit to a Maltese dog standing on its hind legs.

The oinochoe was attributed to the Berlin painter by Robert Guy.

Dr Christos Tsirogiannis reminds me that this is indeed the oinochoe seized in January 2018 [see LM]. Tsirogiannis has now published on the Steinhardt seizure:

• Tsirogiannis, C. 2019. "Nekiya: a reflection of the antiquities market: selected cases from the antiquities identified in 2018 and 2019." Journal of Art Crime 21: 63–75.

It appears as no. 3 in the list of objects, and Tsirogiannis notes that it was purchased in 1996 for $215,000. Tsirogiannis identified the oinochoe in two images from the seized Medici dossier.

This now raises a number of questions:

• who sold the oinochoe to Steinhardt?
• who acquired the oinochoe from Medici?
• when did Robert Guy make the attribution?

It should be remembered that this oinochoe is not the only pot attributed to the Berlin painter that passed through the hands of Medici.

Symposium: The Horse in Ancient Greek Art

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be hosting a symposium in April 2018. It will explore some of the themes emerging from the exhibition, 'The Horse in Ancient Greek Art'.

It would have been interesting for one of the papers to have explored the histories of some of the objects appearing in the show. Items include pots reported to have been handled by individuals such as Edoardo Almagià and Fritz Bürki.

Ex Almagià Apulian krater at Fordham University

Among the returns from the Cleveland Museum of Art was a pair of Etruscan silver bracelets that were derived from Edoardo Almagià. Then there was a major return from the Princeton University Art Museum that contained numerous pieces derived from Almagià (discussion here). The Dallas Museum of Art decided to investigate its collections and returned ex Almagià to Italy (discussion here). And other museums have ex Almagià material: Boston Museum of Fine Art, Indiana University Art Museum, Tampa Museum of Art. Chasing Aphrodite has added material in the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Among the items in the Walsh collection at Fordham University is an Apulian volute-krater attributed to the Virginia Exhibition painter (inv. 8.001). The catalogue entry does not appear to provide a statement about the kraters' history. However, the krater is currently on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), and the catalogue entry helpfully states: "Ex. coll. Edouardo [sic.] Almagiá [sic.]; Arte Primitivo, 1994; Gift of William Walsh, 2006".

Can I suggest that the curatorial teams at Fordham and VMFA contact the Italian authorities to check the background to this krater?

The Horse in Ancient Greek Art

Attic red-figured column-krater attributed to the Orestes painter.
Virginia private collection.
Source: NSLM

The exhibition, 'The Horse in Ancient Greek Art', will be on show at the National Sporting Library and Museum, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It will include a number of objects from private collections. I hope that the full collecting histories will be provided.

I looked up the Attic red-figured column-krater attributed to the Orestes painter (and featured on the exhibition website). It surfaced in the Fortuna gallery in Zurich in 1980 (and was re-offered in 1983), and then was for sale in the Royal-Athena Galleries, New York in 1983. It was then offered through the Old World Galleries, New York before being auctioned at Christies (June 8, 2004, lot 328) where it was sold for $47,800. It then passed into a Virginia private collection. What was the collecting history of this krater prior to 1980?

I note that other kraters attributed to this painter were found at Agrigento, Camarina (two), Chiusi and Spina. Where was the Virginia krater found? And when? Its fairly complete nature suggests a tomb is quite likely.

This exhibition reminds us of the material in the Virginia MFA that has been identified by Cambridge-based Dr Christos Tsirogiannis.

Masters of Fire

The New York Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) is hosting an exhibition, Masters of Fire: Copper Age Art from Israel (February-June 2014). It is accompanied by a catalogue edited by Michael Sebbane, Osnat Misch-Brandl, and Daniel M. Master (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014). The 157 exhibits are on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Museum, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, the Katzrin Museum and Tel Aviv University. There are seven explanatory essays (with critical apparatus) by Daniel M. Master, Thomas E. Levy, Dina Shalem, Osnat Misch-Brandl, Yorke M. Rowan, Michael Sebbane, and Orit Shamir.

As Roger S. Bagnall reminds us the Nahal Mishmar hoard lies at the heart of the exhibition. Material from excavated and recorded contexts are vital for the interpretation of this period of the Middle East. Associated finds build up a richer picture of society and how it developed.

Among the financial sponsors of the exhibition and this catalogue are individuals who appear to have been associated with recently surfaced antiquities such as the gold phiale returned to Sicily, and the cuneiform tablets returned from Cornell to Iraq. It is good that an exhibition like this can encourage those benefactors to move their interests from collecting to the public display and interpretation of archaeological finds.

"La Memoria ritrovata"

Source: MiBAC

Judith Harris in Rome has drawn my attention to an exhibition, "La Memoria ritrovata", that is on show at the Quirinal (Judith Harris, "Stolen Treasures on View at Quirinal Palace", January 22, 2014). It contains some 110 objects that have been recovered by the Carabinieri in the last three years. They include the Etruscan cinerary urns from Perugia. Objects recovered from a Japanese dealer in Switzerland via Operation Andromeda have also been put on display.

Harries reminds us that there are some 5.7 million stolen objects and the search for them is supported by a data bank of some 560,000 images.

The Aesthetic of the Crosby Garrett Helmet

I was lecturing at the Institute of Philosophy yesterday on "The Intention of the Artist". One of my examples---and we noticed that the archaeologists speaking at the conference tended to use examples---was the helmet allegedly found at Crosby Garrett. I was suggesting that the aesthetic for what would have been a commonplace parade helmet in the Roman world had changed when it was presented at auction in London or placed in an exhibition at the Royal Academy. We had a useful debate about the "showiness" of such helmets and the parallel with its presentation as a "masterpiece".