NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Online antiquities smugglers are taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis
Heritage watchdog sees rise in posts from trafficking groups on Facebook
NewsOld Masters
Old Master scandal dealt fresh blow as Court of Appeal rejects arrest warrant
French investigation into Giuliano Ruffini, the prime suspect in the case, is hampered by Milan ruling
NewsAnimal welfare
E-commerce sites accused of fostering trade in ‘blood brushes’
Wildlife trust calls on artists and online markets to help stem illicit sales of Indian mongoose hair
ArchiveLaw
Italy sues for return of antique pottery which they claim to own under national law because they are objects of archaeological interest.
The US has filed a complaint in a federal district court to determine who owns 230 antiquities produced in ancient Italian pottery workshops
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
What if Italy sold this 5,000-piece hoard of orphan antiquities?
Experts say the haul, the result of a 14-year investigation, could raise as much as €15m for the country’s cash-strapped archaeological service
ArchiveWar & Conflict
MP Robert Jenrick leads campaign to stop Islamic State funding terror through trafficking
UK and US collaborate to cut off one of group’s top revenue streams
ArchiveLawsuits
Collector Eskandar Maleki sues long-time friend and adviser Amir Shariat over profits
Maleki alleges deals were undisclosed, Shariat countersues for malicious falsehood and defamation
ArchiveMarion True
Has peace broken out after the trial of Marion True?
One writer says the pressure on American museums has eased, but another insists Italian prosecutors remain combative
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True case has concluded, but how does the former antiquities curator of the Getty Museum feel about the outcome?
“Neither condemned nor vindicated”: Marion True on why it is hard to accept the lack of verdict after her five-year trial
ArchiveMarion True
Marion True case set for final hearing?
After more than 5 years of hearings, the case is finally closing
ArchiveMarion True
Marion True, former Getty curator, trial collapses
Victims include prime minister’s father-in-law and an old master art dealer
ArchiveMarion True
Marion True defence continues
“Stolen” antiquities put under microscope in Getty trial
ArchiveMarion True
Marion True trial: Expert archaeologist Rizzo ends prosecution testimony
As the testimony of the expert witness comes to a close, we look at what the next hearing will entail
ArchiveMarion True
Further documents link key defendants in Marion True trial
Hearings drag on into fifth year
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Iran Foundation trustee found guilty of book theft from British Library and Oxford's Bodleian Library steps down from post
Farhad Hakimzadeh was given two years' imprisonment after it was learnt he had stolen volumes from the two UK institutions
ArchiveMarion True
Getty letters analysed in Marion True trial
The letters aid claims that the Getty Museum were aware of the origin of the illegally excavated artefacts
ArchiveMarion True
“The Fleischmann Collection was just a front” - updates on the Marion True trial
The latest hearing in the Marion True trial links Getty to convicted dealer, again
ArchiveMarion True
Trial of Marion True and Robert Hecht over illegally excavated antiquities from Rome continues
Complications over reputation, paperwork, and repatriation
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True trial: troubles in the courtroom
The hearings heated up when one of the defence lawyers threatened to abandon the trial if the prosecution continued its aggressive stance
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True trial: investigation continues
The trial of former Getty antiquities curator continues with prosecutor Daniela Rizzo offering witness evidence
ArchiveMarion True
Tomb robber takes the stand in Marion True trial
Evidence of illegally excavated antiquities in the collection of Getty is presented in court
ArchiveIran
Antiquities resembling those looted from Jiroft offered for sale by satellite of Manhattan's Salander O' Reilly Galleries
Gallery “unaware” of concerns over objects offered on website
ArchiveMarion True
November update on Marion True trial
The Art Newspaper reports
ArchiveMarion True
Marion True trial delayed by lawyers’ strike
This is in response to Italy's new liberalisation measures
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True trial: continued struggle in the courtroom
Specific artefacts are called into question
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True Trial: information from the courtroom; Sergeant of Carabinieri cross-examined
More evidence is scrutinised
ArchiveMarion True
Evidence of Getty Venus’s illicit origin shown to court
Trial of Marion True continues with more evidence against her presented in court
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True trial continues: is there any progression in the courtroom?
The Art Newspaper reports on the events of the continuing trial
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True trial continues: more information from the courtroom
However, both True and co-defendant Robert Hecht were absent
ArchiveMarion True
The Marion True trial: information from the courtroom
Evidence is discussed and documents are scoured
ArchiveMarion True
Ex-Getty antiquities curator appears in Italian court
Marion True made a surprise appearance on the first day of the trial
ArchiveMarion True
Now former Getty antiquities curator Marion True goes on trial this month
Marion True has resigned from the museum and the institution is to return three artefacts to Italy
ArchiveIran
Iran sues Barakat Gallery for return of antiquities apparently looted from Jiroft
The gallery's owner makes no comment on artefacts' origins, but insists that all purchases were made legally
ArchiveMarion True
Italian case against Marion True postponed to November
The case, which is the result of a decade-long investigation by Italian police, has been delayed because crucial documents had to be translated
ArchiveUnesco
Switzerland to implement 1970 UNESCO Convention legislation on 1st June
Switzerland’s is known for its pivotal presence in the underground network that moves illicitly excavated artefacts from country to country
ArchiveIran
36 arrested and 940 objects reclaimed as Iranian authorities apprehend antiquities smuggling ring
Iran has clamped down on illegal trade in antiquities, which has led to archaeological sites being promptly denuded post-discovery
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Iran sentences Jiroft smugglers to death
It is the first time that Iranian courts have issued a harsh punishment for the illicit exportation of goods from an archaeological site
ArchiveLebanese
Lebanese antiquities dealers prosecuted in US and Egypt
Hicham Aboutaam has pleaded guilty in the US to a Customs misdemeanour while his brother, Ali, is seeking to have his conviction by an Egyptian court nullified
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
How the contents of Iran’s Western Cave were dispersed
Many of the objects, some extant since the first millennium BC, were looted from the site and entered the international market
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Antiquities dealer arrested for smuggling Iranian artefact from raided archaeological site into US
Hicham Aboutaam sold the antiquity to a New York buyer for $950,000; the US says it is part of a the looted Western Cave hoard
ArchiveCambodia
Looters search areas of archaeological importance in Cambodia after bomb disposal experts have de-mined them
Illicit excavations occur as de-mined areas often show no signs of the riches below the surface so authorities do not deploy heritage security teams
ArchiveFraud
Former French Foreign Minister and a leading auctioneer ordered to trial over money kept back from Giacometti estate sales
Roland Dumas and Jacques Tajan face accusations of abuse of confidence after evidence suggests proceeds from auction were illicitly retained
ArchiveIllegal & Illicit
Looted tombstone from Jiroft returned to Iran following its seizure by London police
After the tomb was discovered, Iran's Ministry of Culture were unable to prevent civilians from systematically emptying them of artefacts, which were then shipped overseas
ArchiveIran
London and Paris markets flooded with Iranian antiquities looted from newly discovered site at Jiroft
Before police intervened, thousands of objects were plundered by locals and sold on to Europe
ArchiveMarion True
Marion True hearing postponed to March
Postponement is due to document translation troubles
ArchiveIraq
Details of National Museum of Iraq looting emerge
While the Warka Vase has been accounted for, reports suggest that the cylinder seal collection has vanished
ArchiveLooted art
Unchecked looting of archaeological sites continues in midst of Iraqi war
The Art Newspaper takes inventory of the worst casualties
ArchiveUnesco
Long the hub of the illicit antiquities trade, Switzerland is moving towards ratification of the 1970 Unesco Convention
Switzerland also debating new national legislation to make the movement of art and artefacts more transparent
ArchiveAlberto Giacometti
Archives seized from Giacometti Association following family's wishes
Archives, boxes of drawings and documents pertaining to court procedures were confiscated by bailiffs, following the freezing of their assets last year
ArchiveUnesco
In full: the text of the US Customs import restrictions on Italian archaeological material
The restrictions were imposed following a 1999 request made by Italy under Article 9 of the Unesco Convention
ArchiveAntiquities & Archaeology
"My life as a tombarolo." The Art Newspaper goes underground in the world of illicit archaeology
Cristina Ruiz spent a day with the man who controls much of the illicit excavation on the site of ancient Veii, one of the largest Etruscan cities.
ArchiveExhibitions
Exhibition on tomb-robbers' effect on archaeological sites opens in Palestrina, Italy
Wounded archaeology
ArchiveUnesco
China and US drafting anti-smuggling agreement
A full import ban may not be intended by the Chinese, merely a bilateral agreement to implement the 1970 Unesco Convention
ArchiveUnesco
Deliberation over ownership of submerged vessels and their booty at the bottom of the ocean leads to Unesco intervention
An estimated three million shipwrecks lay undiscovered. UNESCO is calling for a global treaty to protect them. Salvors say it is unrealistic and unworkable, despite developments in deep-sea exploration technology
ArchiveArt market
The market for antiquities is growing, unfazed by protesters
As last month’s antiquities sales boomed, The Art Newspaper surveyed leading dealers and specialists in New York
ArchiveArt market
Fears of a crackdown after the handover turns out to have been exaggerated, but the picture in Hong Kong is far from rosy
Hard times on Hollywood Road
ArchiveAlberto Giacometti
Judge orders smashing of Giacometti plaster models
Founder of unauthorised casts sentenced to ten years
ArchiveIraq
Assyrian stone relief slabs from Sennacherib's Palace in Iraq may have been smuggled from the country and sold on
Professor John Malcolm Russell's personal connection to the objects left him well placed to recognise them in images from sales
ArchiveIraq
Iraq's cultural heritage continues to be depleted as museums and archaeological sites plagued by smugglers
In a lecture given at London's Institute of Archaeology, Dr Lamia al Galiani-Werr drove home the urgency of the issue
ArchiveNational Trust
National Trust serves a legal notice on the Marquess of Bristol's Ickworth House
National Trust tires of Marquess
ArchivePolitics
Former Greek premier caught red-handed with illegal antiquities
Almost all Minoan antiquities assembled by former premier, Mr Mitsotakis, appear to have an illegal provenance.
ArchiveAlberto Giacometti
Fake Giacometti furniture trial ends with jail sentences and fines for Jacques Redoutey and suppliers
Experts complain that large number of fakes in the market makes it difficult to identify authentic works
ArchiveAlberto Giacometti
Police investigation finds Diego Giacometti's foundry grossed £14 million from unauthorised bronzes cast after his death
The "posthumous" sculptures passed through the hands several leading auction houses in Paris
ArchiveIran
Iran imposes capital punishment for illicit exportation of antiquities
This legislation may come to late, as several archaeological sites have already been looted, and their content distributed throughout the international market