Heritage and Greece

The S.E.A. in Greece has issued a video highlighting the issues relating to the theft of cultural property in Greece.

The video is set in the National Museum, Athens, where some of the objects returned from North American public and private collections have been placed on display.

Christie's and the unsold Canosan kraters

It appears that the pair of Canosan kraters offered by Christie's and identified by Christos Tsirogiannis in the Medici Dossier were left unsold. I understand that they failed to reach their reserve price.

What is interesting is that Christie's seemed to press ahead with the sale even though it appears that they were contacted by the Italian authorities.

Did Christie's undertake its own independent research? How rigorous is its due diligence process?

In April this year Christie's returned material to Italy that had been identified from similar photographic evidence.

Tom Campbell and transparency

© David Gill

Lee Rosenbaum has discussed the claims over Cambodian sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Director Tom Campbell spoke to the press and made this surprising claim about cultural property: "we are fully committed to dealing with such claims with transparency".

Perhaps transparency does not extend to disclosure about the nature of the material returned to Italy from the collection of former curator Dietrich von Bothmer.

Would the Met like to issue a statement about this return even if it is five months after the event?

Christie's and the Art Loss Register

The Art Loss Register (ALR) states on its website that it "searches all auction catalogues and private sales for Christies to identify before sale any items which are registered as stolen, fake, missing, looted". The ALR continues: "This is the foundation of due diligence to ensure that the buyers obtain good title free of disputes."

This is a bold claim. Are all looted antiquities documented and photographed? Do looters submit their photographs to the ALR? So the statement assumes that looted antiquities have to be registered.

And what if objects in one of the auctions are identified from one of the photographic dossiers seized in Switzerland and Greece? Will Christie's only respond if the ALR makes the identification?

And does the work of the ALR guarantee that "buyers obtain good title free of disputes"? What if the Italian authorities make the identification themselves and approach the auction-house directly?

The wording is clearly intended to reassure potential buyers. But does it?

Christie's Ignores Italy?

Christie's still seems to be planning to auction the pair of Canosan kraters identified by Christos Tsirogiannis from the Medici Dossier. Has Christie's received requests from the Italian authorities to withdraw the kraters from the sale? Is Christie's ignoring such requests?

Such an attitude seems to follow a pattern for this auction-house.

More Medici material in New York

Cambridge University researcher Christos Tsirogiannis has identified a further item featured in the Medici Dossier and due to be auctioned in New York tomorrow. The piece had formed part of a Swiss collection that Christopher Chippindale and I discussed in 1993.

Jubilee Celebrations

Melford Hall © David Gill, June 2012

Looting Matters is joining in the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.