The amphora as from the Symes-Michaelides archive.

New York. Christie’s announced an amphora to be auctioned which passed through the hands of Symes-Michaelides, as proven by images from their confiscated archive (see images on the right), as was reported by forensic archaeologist Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis. The amphora will be auctioned at Christie’s, in New York, October 31st, 2018, as lot 31.

Symes and Michaelides are not mentioned in the ‘Provenance’ section of the Christie’s catalogue. Interestingly, images from the Beazley archive in Oxford (images below) show the amphora with salt encrustations, while in Symes the amphora is depicted clean.

The District Attorney’s Office in New York and the Interpol’s Art Squad in Lyon were informed.

Screenshot 2 from the Beazley archive in Oxford, depicting the amphora.

Screenshot 1 from the Beazley archive in Oxford, depicting the amphora.