Looted Antiquities

MADAM – Your comprehensive coverage of the recent Unesco debacle in last week’s issue (ATG No 2471) successfully raises ongoing concerns about the organisation’s behaviour and attitudes.

A Unesco campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of looted art is threatening to backfire after it emerged the ‘stories’ told in its adverts were fabricated.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including the arrest of antiquities dealers and experts in Paris relating to looted Middle Eastern artefacts.

Following the removal of four lots from a New York sale, Christie’s has expressed frustration at being denied access to key information on possible looted antiquities.

The antiquities trade has welcomed a new independent report that estimates the volume of looted objects on the market is much smaller than previous reports have suggested.

A project led by the British Museum (BM) to combat the trade in looted antiquities from Egypt and Sudan has launched an online database where objects with ‘provenance issues’ can be brought to the attention of museum specialists and academics.

The reported trafficking of cultural heritage objects is small and in decline, according to analysis by the IADAA (International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art).

A group of objects belonging to dealers who took part in the BRAFA art fair in Brussels were seized following an investigation by Interpol.

For better or worse, Brexit is finally set to proceed and will be a major factor in the year ahead – as will timed auctions, anti-money laundering rules, the looming prospect of a near-total ivory trade ban, antiquities challenges and a new buying ethos based on cultural sensitivities, changes at major fairs and a growing ‘green’ movement.

Given the growing number of claims made by national governments and heritage authorities when it comes to the antiquities sector, 2020 looks set to be another year of further controversies. Here, lawyer Fred Clark, an associate in Boodle Hatfield LLP’s art team, surveys the legal landscape of the ancient art market and looks ahead to what may well become a more regulated world.

The Antiquities Dealers’ Association (ADA) has said dealers and auctioneers should stand up to “the politicisation of the antiquities trade” in the wake of a row surrounding the sale of a £4m sculpture.

The art and antiques trade has described the introduction of new controls on the import of cultural goods as a “considerable blow” to the market.