Antiquities

Princeton University Art Museum identifies 16 artefacts linked to alumnus and alleged smuggler

Edoardo Almagià, who graduated from Princeton University in 1973, has been connected to a range of antiquities currently in the museum's collection

Striking gold: 2022 was a record year for treasure and antiquities finds, with more than 50,000 items reported

From gold coins to ivory carvings, many pieces were found by amateur metal detectorists, according to latest report by British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme

Alleged head of Egyptian antiquities trafficking ring arrested in Paris

Serop Simonian was arrested in his hometown of Hamburg and transferred to France

British Museum antiquities thief alleged to be veteran curator Peter Higgs

Higgs, who was sacked earlier this year, is alleged to have sold uncategorised items from the museum's collection on eBay as early as 2016

Italy seeks the return of seven possibly looted works from the Louvre

The museum's director says works with dubious provenance are 'a stain in the collections of the Louvre'

Art marketinterview

'The most illiquid property you can have is a Greek vase': Vincent Geerling on the challenges facing the antiquities trade

The chairman of the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art reflects on an increasingly scrutinised industry as the organisation marks its 30th anniversary

Lootnews

‘Easily recognisable fakes’ among artefacts repatriated to Italy from the US

Forged objects have been identified among the 60 antiquities returned amid much fanfare earlier this year

Looted artefacts linked to disgraced British dealer Robin Symes returned to Italy

Restitution follows the return of 350 Neolithic and Byzantine objects from the same source to Greece

In Burkina Faso and Mali, pilot scheme builds defences against illegal trafficking of cultural antiquities

Icom and Aliph’s $250,000 project is providing training and security measures for 22 museums in countries ravaged by war

Antiquities dealer Ali Aboutaam given 18-month suspended sentence by Geneva court

Decision brings the six-year investigation into the provenance of 15,000 antiquities from Phoenix Ancient Art to an end, with only a handful found to lack proper documentation

US returns stolen artefact to Palestine as part of investigation into New York collector Michael Steinhardt

The US government has returned a looted ivory spoon in the first repatriation exchange between the two countries

Qatari sheikh wins £4.2m lawsuit against prominent London dealer John Eskenazi

While the judge decided the defendant sold the works in good faith, he ruled that all seven objects purchased by the sheikh are fakes

Antiquities trafficking charges against former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez and curator Jean-François Charnier could be dropped

The ruling of the examining chamber, expected next year, could overturn the investigation against both curators in a case implicating the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Metropolitan Museum

American billionaire's Cycladic antiquities collection unveiled in Athens as Greece and Metropolitan Museum of Art reach agreement

The Greek state is now the sole owner of the artefacts but all 161 pieces will be on a 25-year loan to the Met from January 2024

Disgraced antiquities dealer Subhash Kapoor sentenced to ten years in prison by Indian court

The ruling culminates an extensive investigation into a smuggling ring headed by Kapoor

A 2,000-year-old Israeli coin minted during the ‘great Jewish revolt’ repatriated by US authorities

The coin, a Quarter Shekel valued at $1m, was looted in from Israel in 2002 and had been headed for auction before being recovered by US Homeland Security agents in 2017

French art dealer Didier Wormser stands trial for trafficking looted Egyptian antiquities

Owner of L’Etoile d’Ishtar gallery said artefacts from Saqqara necropolis “should be restituted to Egypt” but insists he purchased them in good faith

How partition divided a centuries-old manuscript between India and Pakistan—and continues to plague the region's heritage

Research on the Chandayan of Mulla Da’ud has suffered ever since 24 folios narrating the love story were split up across the border in 1947

The Getty Museum will return a set of illegally excavated life-size statues to Italy

The group of figures, known as “Orpheus and the Sirens”, is one of four artefacts the museum is repatriating to Italy based on new evidence

Iraqnews

British tourist’s 15-year prison sentence for antiquities smuggling overturned by Iraqi appeals court

James Fitton, a 66-year-old retired geologist, had been convicted of antiquities smuggling after taking pottery shards from an ancient site

Art crimeanalysis

Jailing of British visitor to Iraq could jeopardise tourism and soft diplomacy

After years of conflict and sanctions, heritage trips have been taking off in the area. But potential visitors may be wary after geologist Jim Fitton was given a 15-year sentence for taking “a few worthless pieces of broken pottery”

Louvre launches civil action as part of art trafficking case involving former director Jean-Luc Martinez

A number of objects purchased by the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are now under scrutiny—including an ancient Egyptian marble head worth €35m

Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez charged in connection with antiquities trafficking investigation

Martinez has been indicted for “complicity of gang fraud and laundering“ of objects purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Louvre Abu Dhabi

Qatari sheikh loses appeal over fake antiquities claim against Phoenix Ancient Art

Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah al-Thani had accused the New York- and Geneva-based dealership of selling him two allegedly fake statues for a combined $5.2m

Italian court calls for restitution of ancient marble statue from Minneapolis Institute of Art

The two-metre-tall statue, which the museum acquired for $2.5m in 1986, was allegedly excavated illegally in the 1970s

Dealer suspected of selling looted antiquities to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Louvre Abu Dhabi detained in Paris

The Hamburg-based dealer Roben Dib was arrested in Paris last week. His lawyers say he will "fully cooperate with the investigation"

Two lots withdrawn from Christie’s antiquities sale after possible ties emerge to dealers known to traffic in illicit artefacts

The artefacts were flagged by Christos Tsiogiannis, who has, since 2006, been identifying looted antiquities through photographic archives of suspected and convicted dealers in plunder

Archaeologist calls for repatriation of Roman fresco in Getty collection that came from known antiquities traffickers

Research published by forensic archaeologist Christos Tsirogiannis suggests the brilliant fresco fragment may have been illegally excavated near Pompeii

Antiquities dealers appeal restrictive New York ban on ivory

The appeal primarily challenges restrictions around the display of commercial ivory objects in the state