GERMANY/Munich, objects of illicit provenance on auction: Gorny & Mosch …again

This week, our committee member Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis, senior archaeologist at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge, identified again several objects of very doubtful provenance in a forthcoming auction; this time it is the auction of Gorny & Mosch in Munich on December 14, 2016. The four identified antiquities derive from the Robin Symes…

USA/GREECE: Extension of Import Restrictions

Extension of Import Restrictions Imposed on Certain Archaeological and Ethnological Material From Greece Very good news indeed. This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological material from the Hellenic Republic (Greece). The restrictions, which were originally imposed by CBP Decision…

Freeports: the storage heaven of illegal antiquities

How freeports developed, work, are (mis)used, is quite clear; a recent article from The Economist gives further details. Freeports are also well known in relation to storing archaeological items – see for instance the Symes case and the involved Geneva Free Ports. However, there may be change on the way, at least in Switzerland. Since…

BRUXELLES: conference on illicit trafficking of Cultural goods, 29 November 2016

Université Libre De Bruxelles / Campus Solbosch: mardi, 29 novembre 2016, 9-18:00 Journée d’étude sur “Le trafic illicite des biens culturels, source de financement du terrorisme et des groupes armés“, organisé par la Commission Belge Francophone et Germanophone pour l’UNESCO. La question du trafic illicite des biens culturels fait l’objet depuis de nombreuses années de…

Unprovenanced Etruscan terracotta on sale at Bonham’s

This Monday, November 7, our committee member Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis, senior archaeologist at the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, University of Cambridge, identified an Etruscan terracotta antefix (lot 14) in the forthcoming Bonhams auction in London, on November 30th, 2016, as deriving from the Medici archive (see images on the right). But the collecting history given by…

GREECE: four arrested for illegal antiquities trading

Four people were arrested Wednesday for illegally trading in antiquities and drug smuggling in a police sting operation in various parts of Attica. Police said one of the suspects, a 52-year-old, was collared in a central Athens hotel as he tried to complete the sale of ancient artifacts for a price of 200,000 euros to…

GERMANY/Munich – BULGARIA: Gorny and Mosch selling finds from illegal excavations?

A recent article from the German TV-Channel ‘Das Erste’ by Andreas Wolter (in German) discusses the unsecure provenance of a Poseidon statuette recently sold at Gorny & Mosch in Munich (though the auction house is not mentioned by name). The auction house names as provenance only ‘Ex collection A.T., Munich, since 1985’. But the statue…

ICOM International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods

Our committee is now also officially contributing to the ICOM International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods! But why? Every day, somewhere in the world, an object is either stolen or looted in order to be illegally sold on the market. Illicit trafficking in works of art and cultural property has become a serious…