Middle East

An ancient Assyrian artefact stolen from an archaeological site in Iraq in the early 1990s has been returned to the country after being stored for an extended period by the Metropolitan Police in London.

Christie’s becomes the first international auction house to secure a presence in the Gulf state and appoints managing director in the kingdom.

Among the latest Movers & Shakers news are appointments at Bonhams and Christie’s and a refurbishment at Artcurial.

Sculptures of Buddha dating from the 4th-6th centuries smuggled out of Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago have finally been returned to the country’s national museum.

Three major Old Master acquisitions by museums have been announced over the last fortnight. They include two works that headlined London’s latest auction series in this category.

The Louvre museum in Paris has requested the loan of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ for its major exhibition dedicated to the artist opening in October.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has been revealed as the buyer of the small Rembrandt oil painting that led Sotheby’s Old Master evening sale in London at the end of last year after it went on view at the museum in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism is postponing the unveiling of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ at The Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Eight Sumerian antiquities seized by the Metropolitan Police from a London dealer in 2003 are to be returned to Iraq after identification by the British Museum.

A rare Islamic manuscript consigned to a Bonhams auction in London has been returned to Egypt in the latest example of Egyptian authorities succeeding in retrieving artefacts from abroad.

Sotheby’s has chosen Dubai to unveil a Rubens painting it plans to offer later this summer in a bid to tap into the hoped-for demand for Old Master paintings in the Middle East.

Antiquities looted during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s are to go on display at the National Museum in Beirut after they were identified in Europe as stolen objects.

A member of the Saudi royal family has been identified as the winning bidder of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has announced on Twitter that Leonardo's Salvator Mundi is heading to the newly opened museum in the Middle East.

Five antiquities dealers were arrested by Israeli police in Jerusalem last week in connection with items that were illegally imported into the US by the arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.

Egypt’s former antiquities minister Mamdouh al-Damaty has called for a change of policy relating to Egyptian artefacts traded abroad.

A lack of clarity on issues of censorship is affecting Dubai’s role as a centre for the art market, delegates at the Art Business Conference heard today.

Russian allegations that ISIS is netting $150-$200m annually from the sale of looted Syrian and Iraqi antiquities have been dismissed by the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA).

Sotheby’s have announced that they are to open an office in Doha and are planning a series of auctions in the Qatari capital in early 2009.