Happy New Year!

© David Gill

I would like to wish all Readers of LM a very Happy New Year!

Review of 2013

Source: MiBAC

At the beginning of 2013 I made a number of predictions. I drew attention to Cambodian antiquities and we have seen items returned. Sotheby's has also agreed to return a piece that had been due to be auctioned.

I also thought that more material would be identified from the Medici archive. This has been the case for items surfacing on the market (e.g. Gnathian krater, the Ackerman Apollo, an East Greek warrior, the Symes torso, the Symes Pan, the Medici Pan, and other items) as well as in established collections such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (and here).

The J. Paul Getty Museum agreed to return the terracotta head of Hades. The Italian enquiry into a curator at the Princeton University Art Museum came to an end. However there has been no movement on the Villanovan bronze hut. We continue to await the return of material to Greece from the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University.

Bothmer fragments reunited

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has continued to place a veil over the formation of the Bothmer collection of pot fragments. However one partial cup will be returning to Rome after Dr Christos Tsirogiannis made the link with a fragment in the Villa Giulia.

Cornell will be returning cuneiform tablets to Iraq.

SLAM

And we have not forgotten about the mummy mask in the St Louis Art Museum.

Italian authorities netted Etruscan antiquities in Operation Ifegenia. A fragment from a tomb at Paestum has been intercepted in North America.

The AAMD does not seem to have resolved some issues with items appear on the Object Register.

Turkey has yet to press hard for the return of material such as the Bubon bronzes. However Michael Bennett of the Cleveland Museum of Art has decided to add his voice to the debate. There has also been some discussion of a sarcophagus spotted in Geneva.

Little further work has been done on European (including UK) museums and their acquisition of material from Robin Symes, Giacomo Medici and Gianfranco Becchina. This is perhaps a task for 2014. We did however draw attention to the situation in Copenhagen.

Church theft in Devon

In the UK Simon Thurley (and see his Men from the Ministry) took up the case of Heritage Crime. I have also added my voice for the return of the Icklingham Bronzes. This was a theme taken up during an outdoor seminar during the excavations at Leiston Abbey in Suffolk. There have been some significant instances such as the paintings from a church in Devon.

On different fronts I revisited my thinking on the Universal Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art has published its position on the Apollo and I have responded in an academic article. A small publication on the Crosby Garrett helmet appeared (and has done little to answer concerns about how it was removed from the ground). British Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed his views on the Parthenon marbles. I was able to hear Paul Barford present a seminar on portable antiquities during his visit to East Anglia. I have returned to my analysis of the value of the antiquities market. I also delivered my inaugural lecture on one of the founders of modern archaeology.

Christmas Greetings

Iona © David Gill

I would like to wish all readers of Looting Matters a very happy Christmas.

Seasonal antiquities

My attention was drawn to this 'seasonal offering'. Classicists will enjoy some of the antiquities (including a Cycladic figure) contributing to the message.

Antiquities sales in New York: Overview

© David Gill

The two December sales at Sotheby's and Christie's in New York are now complete. This allows me to review the sale of antiquities for 2013. Overall the two auction-houses have sold $32.6 million worth of antiquities in NYC this year, down from $35.6 million last year. Indeed this is the third consecutive fall from $133.8 million in 2010, and $62.4 million in 2011. Indeed 2013 is comparable with 2004 ($32.5 million).

This means that over half a billion dollars worth of antiquities have been sold at the two auction-houses in NYC since 1999, with Sotheby's well ahead of Christie's by some $142 million.

Medici and Symes material in New York

Fabio Isman has a piece on the Medici and Symes pieces surfacing on the New York market ("Pezzi di Medici e Symes all’asta: fino a quando?", Artemagazine December 2013). This draws on the identifications made by Dr Christos Tsirogiannis. It also has the images of one of the objects in the Swiss Gallery.

The piece is a reminder that auction-houses need to undertake a more rigorous due diligence process to prevent these toxic antiquities from appearing at the sales.

Sale of Egyptian Antiquities at Sotheby's

© David Gill

I have been looking at the median value of Egyptian lots sold at Sotheby's New York from 1998 to 2013. The December median value has had a steady increase from $3,737 to $27,500. The contrast is with the June sales that have risen from $2,875 to $13,750.