Are All Antiquities "Illicit" When Traded Without Full Documentation Proving a "Licit" Origin?

The  real issue:

carrying on the international trade in antiquities would be practically impossible, if "full documentation proving 'licit' origin" is required.

Sniff-Searching for Genuine Antiquities

Kate FitzGibbon, one of the authors of the CCP blog pours scorn on the idea of using dogs to search out hidden antiquities at border crossings ("Doggie Boondoggle – Antiquities Sniffing Dogs"  May 27, 2017).

A group known as Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law and Policy Research has proposed training drug-sniffing type dogs to detect antiquities [...] One would assume that the dogs are being trained to recognize the smell of absorbed dirt or other associated materials, since ceramic or stone would be inert, but so far, the articles on the proposed Canine Antiquities Police haven’t explained the science behind the program. [...] It’s cute, but it’s dumb.

The author presumably does not know of one of the tests routinely used by buyers of ancient ceramics and terracotta objects, the 'sniff test', smelling the odor of a freshly-wet area of ceramic (saliva will suffice - so the test is colloquially referred to in some circles as 'spit and smell'). A fake object will have no detectable smell, while an ancient object is revealed by the unmistakable musty odor it has - like a mature cheese. the smell is unfakable -and would be a dead giveaway to an animal specially trained to detect it. Of course that only works if the antiquities actually are real and not fakes inserted into a shipment - perhaps that is the reason why a lawyer representing dealers is so scathing of the ability of dogs to detect authentic imports, Failure of such dogs to smell genuine antiquities among those coming on the market might start to lower buyer confidence in the dealers and their suppliers!

Illegal Antiquities Sellers Apprehended in Europe

Bulgarian officials arrested over twenty people they accuse of illegal activities in Europe ("Bulgaria recovers over 5,000 antiquities in joint anti-smuggling op with Turkey, France"   Daily Sabah  May 26, 2017). Bulgaria is clearly not doing enough to solve this problem,

"This is one of the largest such operations conducted so far," the ministry statement said [...]. The artifacts concerned  came mainly from sites in Bulgaria and Turkey and were smuggled out to be sold in Western Europe, mostly in France, Germany and Britain. [...]  Lack of funds for official archeological works since the fall of communism in Bulgaria in 1989 has led to the looting of many rich archeological sites across the country.

Obviously countries like these should be doing much more to protect their own heritage before they expect us to place restrictions on the activities of respectable dealers and collectors in the US.

Support and Respect

Cypriot child's rattle

This little pig shows how children and their toys have not fundamentally changed over thousands of years. It is a rattle in the shape of a pig, the rough ridge of hair on its back showing it to be closer to a boar than contemporary pigs. This is part of a collection of ancient pottery excavated in Cyprus. It was presented in 1878 to James Bibby, a Liverpool ship-owner, who was cruising the Mediterranean in his yacht 'Helen'. Refugees escaping from a burning ship at Famagusta suspected that their ship had been purposely wrecked; they murdered the crew and caused panic in the island. The arrival of Mr Bibby's yacht helped to quell the riot as it was believed to be a gunboat and in gratitude he was presented with the collection; it was taken from an archaeologist, Mr Cesnola, who was working for the British Museum.

Landscape with Ruins 1772

Hubert Robert was the first artist to make ancient ruins the main focus of his landscapes rather than placing them in the background as picturesque accessories. He was born on this day in 1733

Landscape with Ruins Hubert Robert (1733 - 1808)

Brak Eye Idol

Mother and daughter

Assyrian Art Saved

Created for king Ashurbanipal, these 2,500-year-old wall panels from Nineveh are some of the finest examples of Assyrian art ( ow.ly/asHa30bRDwQ). If they had not been removed from the country and preserved by collectors we might have lost them for ever.

A Collection of Roman Glass Bottles

1st century A.D. Seven blue glass bottles from Pompeii, used as measures of capacity: each bottle is twice the size of the next one. Without collectors putting together collections of similar objects and studying them, we would never know a whole lot of things about the past.

How Egypt "plans to crack down on antiquities theft"

 Al-monitor " How Egypt plans to crack down on antiquities theft

On May 3, Egypt's Cabinet approved amendments to the country’s antiquities law. The changes were highly praised by decision-makers and archaeologists in a country that has been suffering a rise in antiquities thefts and illegal digging for artifacts following the 2011 revolution. The amendments include raising the maximum sentence from seven years to life imprisonment for the illegal trade in, possession of and digging of antiquities. An addition to the law also imposes fines for harassing tourists at archaeological sites; such fines range from 3,000 to 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($165 to $550). [...] Member of parliament Evelyn Matta praised the new amendments, especially the new penalty for harassing tourists; many people strongly pressure tourists to buy merchandise. She told local media that [...] "These amendments will help tourism flourish and make the world look at us and see us as more civilized, seeing that we respect everyone who comes to see our archaeological monuments".

It seems that the local populace has been excluded from their heritage by laws making them the property of the elitist state hierachy:

Mohamed Khalil, a director at the Antiquities Ministry [...]  told Al-Monitor that the Antiquities Ministry is also working hard to raise people's awareness about their country's invaluable antiquities. "After the revolution, the ministry organized tours for Egyptians for them to see their ancestors' antiquities. To our surprise, many Egyptians have no idea about dozens of archaeological places here," Khalil said."In most of our tours, passersby and shop owners, when they see us walking in groups, think we are demonstrating," he said. However, Khalil went on to say that when people are informed that the group is going to visit a historic place nearby, some of them join in, while others are surprised that such a place exists in their area and is open to the public. Thus, Khalil believes that it is good to stiffen the penalties but also to raise people's awareness — especially of those trying to sell goods to tourists — about the importance of Egypt's monuments so that they will be preserved. He said he thinks that illegal trade and digging cases will diminish. 

Convention for a Cleaner Antiquities Market in Europe

Dr. Derek Fincham has some thoughts on the new convention on Illegal Antiquities ("Council of Europe Considers a Blood Antiquities Convention", May 19, 2017):

On Friday, May 19, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will meet to open a new treaty for signatures on a new Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property. Given that the Council of Europe now has 47 member states, including both Russia and Turkey, the impact of this new Convention could be immense. This is particularly true given that the member states of the Council of Europe include art-acquiring states, transit states, and states with ancient monuments.  The Convention may even allow any non-Council state to sign on to the Convention. The work of this draft Convention could catapult the member states of the Council of Europe to the head of the pack in embracing the complementary international conventions aimed at stemming the illicit trade in cultural property.

Collectors and reputable dealers will welcome this move to make sure that those who sell illegal antiquities in Europe are excluded from the market, making it a safer place to buy them. Let us hope though that the Convention does not make the buying ancient art more difficult or expensive, for example by empowering the opponents of collecting to continue their unreasonable pressure to consider objects that lack documented provenance in some way 'illegal'.

Erdogan Guards Attack Citizens

Photo: Turkey Purge

Turkish And Kurdish Supporters Come To Blows After Trump-Erdogan Meeting In Washington (AFP, "US capital slams attack as Erdogan guards clash with protest" AFP May 17, 2017 )

The city of Washington on Wednesday condemned a "brutal attack on peaceful protesters" after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bodyguards clashed with pro-Kurdish demonstrators. Two people were arrested and 11 were injured, including a police officer, amid demonstrations Tuesday as Erdogan held meetings in the US capital after visiting President Donald Trump. Witnesses told AFP that members of Erdogan's security detail pushed past Washington police outside the ambassador's residence and attacked a group of supporters of a Kurdish group. Video footage uploaded to social media shows a group of men in suits punching and kicking the protesters, including a prone woman, as police struggle to contain the clash [...] The police [...] are working with the US State Department and Secret Service "to identify and hold all suspects" -- suggesting that they are seeking to interview Erdogan's security detail. The State Department did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry about the incident and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ignored a question about it at a media photo opportunity. The incident was very similar to another in Washington last year when Erdogan's guards roughed up Kurdish protesters outside the Brookings Institution think tank just before the president arrived to speak.

Below, one of Erdogan's bodyguards choking a protestor in our nation's Capitol. There should be no place in our country for Moslem thugs like these, Turkey is quite clearly not a civilized nation and we should not countenance sending any more antiquities back there until they learn how to behave.

temu

Europe Bases Convention on Anti-Collecting Lies

A new international criminal treaty on cultural property was adopted by the Council of Europe (CoE) on May 4, 2017. The 2017 Council of Europe Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property will be opened for signature by any nation on May 19.  The Convention appears explicitly designed for a wartime environment and most of its provisions are aimed directly at the art trade. Despite increasing evidence that ISIS is focused on destroying art, not on selling it, the Convention preamble states that it was created in part because illicit trade in cultural property is growing and because of concerns that, “terrorist groups are involved in the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage and use the illicit trade of cultural property as a source of financing.” More here

An Old Collection Still on View

Augustus the Strong's sculpture collection store at Dresden, Germany

Chamber of Mummies Uncovered

Breitbart News: Egypt unearths at Minya an ancient burial site replete with at least 17 mummies, both adults and children (VIDEO).

Cultural Property and Tourism

The Committee for Cultural Policy's Kate Fitz Gibbon writes ("Mummies Are Not Enough. Why Doesn’t Egypt Get it?" May 13, 2017) of the futility of raghead nations like Sisi's Egypt and Erdogan's Turkey expecting cultural property to brng new life to their flagging tourist industries.

Archaeological discoveries and grandiose museums are very nice, and represent success in a limited cultural sphere, but if your tourist industry relies on US or European visitors, no amount of hype about mummies is going to outweigh their fears about safety – or their distaste for brutal dictatorships. International public perception of a nation as tolerant and peaceful outweighs any amount of cultural hype about the ancient past.

Another factor she identifies in the decline in visitor numbers to these countries is perceived hostility regarding sharing Egyptian culture with foreign nations

Nonetheless, Egypt’s current administration seems to feel that its tourist prospects will improve if the only place to see ancient Egyptian artifacts is in Egypt itself.

Cairo Is Dragging Its Feet on ISIS

It seems our confidence in Egypt's military dictatorship may be misplaced (David Schenker, "Egypt's Failed War on Terror" Foreign Affairs May 10, 2017).

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, at the White House. At their meeting, Trump assured Sisi that “together… we will fight terrorism.” That is good news for the Egyptian president. After years of strained bilateral relations, the Trump administration is embracing Egypt as a counterterrorism partner. But it is unclear that Egypt is actually an asset in the most pressing battle against terrorism, the fight against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) [...] Cairo has demonstrated a stunning lack of will and competence to eradicate ISIS from Egyptian territory [...] Since 2011, Egypt has been losing ground against a virulent but numerically small insurgency in the Sinai. Notwithstanding its 440,000-strong standing army and $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military assistance, over the past five years, Egypt has been unable to contain—much less roll back—an estimated 600–1,000 insurgents. Indeed, the Sinai-based insurgents have an impressive and growing list of accomplishments. Since 2014—when the local insurgent group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdas, pledged allegiance to ISIS—the group has downed an Egyptian military helicopter, destroyed an M-60 battle tank, sunk an Egyptian patrol boat, and bombed a Russian passenger jet, killing 224 civilians. During the same time period, ISIS has killed an estimated 2,000 Egyptian military officers and policemen in the Sinai. But they’re not the only victims. ISIS has been targeting Christians too, triggering a mass exodus of that minority from the peninsula. Just weeks ago, ISIS attacked Saint Catherine’s, one of the oldest monasteries in the world.

St Catherine's monastery

Clean Hands?

Archeohound

Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law and Policy Research is soliciting public funding for detector dogs to roam airports in search of looted antiquities.  

Peter Tompa discusses the assumptions behind the project and  it's practicality. In what way would so-called "illicit antiquities' smell differently from any others? The method of detection seems to assume some kind of intrinsic change which takes place in a piece of ancietn art when it is handled by an ill-doing dealer as opposed to the archeologists. Maybe the latter are envisaged as using a different kind of soap.

Pre-1970 Provenance Now Not Good Enough?

There is a disturbing new trend appearing among those attempting to put an end to collecting of antiquities and ancient art highlighted by CCP: 'The Guennol Stargazer – Pre-1970 provenance isn’t good enough?". The issue was raised following the sale of the 9-inch-high Anatolian Chalcolithic stone figurine known as the Guennol Stargazer, formerly part of the collection of Edith and Alastair Bradley Martin, for $14.5 million. The “Stargazer,” so named because its eyes appear to be looking into the heavens, was on loan to NY’s Metropolitan Museum for 27 years, and has been documented in the US for more than 50 years. Just prior to the auction, the government of Turkey filed a claim to the statue, which was rejected by Judge Alison Nathan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. A group of demonstrators raised placards at Christie’s doors at the May 28 sale. The Turkish government claims that the statuette belongs to Turkey, and questioned Christie’s role in its sale. This is because archeologists say that there was “no documentation of its excavation, curation or display in Turkey before it surfaced in the United States in 1966.”

There is nothing “remarkable” about that – it is typical of Turkish works that circulated widely in the international market in the mid-20th century. Sales of enormous quantities of antiquities took place in Turkey in the early 20th century, though they lessened considerably by the sixties – and a nine-inch-high statuette of abstract form would not have been considered of much interest in Turkey at the time.

The anti-collecting archaeologists suggest that Turkey has had a law prohibiting export of antiquities since 1906. As CCP point out:

This is hardly relevant. If simply having a law on the books in a foreign country created a presumption of illegality under US law – then our museums would be empty. The stone figurine is unquestionably lawful to buy or sell under the 1983 Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, (CCPIA) the primary US legislation that explicitly covers the ownership of ancient and ethnographic art. The CCPIA does not apply: there is no US-Turkey agreement under that law, and even if there was, Turkish objects that could be shown to be outside Turkey for more than 10 years would not be affected. Any question of illegality would have to be based on a claim that Turkey’s national patrimony laws would make the statuette unlawful to buy, sell, or even possess under the National Stolen Property Act. This Act would rely on there having been a valid, enforced patrimony law in Turkey at the time the object was exported. However, the US does not enforce Turkish or other foreign laws without question, and for good reason. There are many Turkish laws that are not consistent with the Constitution of the United States.

This controversy-that-is-not-a-controversy is not just about Turkey or about this particular object. It is about finding every act of collecting or exhibiting ancient art somehow wrongful and harmful to society. Such unbalanced arguments often ignore the merits of granting repose, an important legal principle, to the hundreds of thousands of undocumented artifacts that have circulated for decades in trade, they encourage selective enforcement and prosecutions, both of which should be anathema to members of a civil society.

Arguments based on purely nationalist claims lack any consideration of the social value of the global circulation of art, the understanding and connection it brings, or the humanist (as opposed to nationalist) argument that all humankind shares the responsibility to preserve and to study the works of all of the rest of humankind. They deride humanism as “apologist.”

A stop needs to be put to this undermining of collectors' rights.

Greek Beauty Personified

Discovered at Milos, one of the world's celebrated statues, the Venus de Milo (Aphrodite), the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty.

New Measures to Fight Illegal Trade in Ancient Art

A new European Convention to criminalize offenses relating to illicit traffic in cultural goods opens to ratification in a few days. It will be interesting to compare the alarmist claims of the archeologists with the number of actual charges they can actually bring. Its my view it will turn out that there is very little actual evidence for the scale of illegal activity that is claimed by those whose aim it is to end private collecting of ancient art. While supporting the fight against culture crime in Europe, let us hope that this new law will not result in additional problems for US collectors and reputable dealers.

Beautiful Points

Photo: Petra Schneidhofer

The protection of cultural property - the American way

Peter Tompa‏ @Aurelius161180 May 11 More Legit questions where nonprofit archaeological advocacy and for profit international consultancy begin and end: "Interrelations in the protection of cultural property - the American way" by Annika Backe translated by Christina Schlögl.

Saudi prince rented Pyramids for $40 million for marriage Proposal

It is being reported by the BBC that in corrupt Egypt, a Saudi Emir rented the entire pyramids archaeological area to propose to his girlfriend.

The BBC quoted the UK-based Quintessentially as reporting that the Saudi prince had used the company to rent out the Giza Pyramids area and flown 300 family members and friends to Egypt to see him asking his sweetheart to marry him in front of the pyramids. The rent and a private ceremony held at the archaeological site cost $40 million, according to BBC.

The director of the Giza Pyramids area Ashraf Mohey Eddin denied the news. Holding weddings in the archaeological area is banned under Egyptian law, said Mohey Eddin, adding that no concerts may be held at the archaeological area except upon permission from the Minister of Antiquities and the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The Devil is in the Details

Wayne Sayles on The Devil is in the Details (Ancient Coin Collecting Tuesday, April 25, 2017):

Although the "rules" of enforcement for the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CCPIA) are guided by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the action agency is actually Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs agents at every U.S. port of entry are trained, often by Archaeologists, to identify, detain and seize cultural property that is restricted from importation in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and a foreign nation. The MOU is consummated and its scope determined, according to strict parameters of law, by the U.S. State Department (DOS) with guidance provided to CBP for implementation. Therein lies the devil—in the details of implementation. What may start out as a rational effort to protect cultural heritage can become a repressive and extralegal process that infringes on the rights of ordinary law abiding citizens.

New criminal law sanctions spare cultural bureaucrats and archaeologists,

ACCG‏ @ACCG_2004  May 8
ACCG Retweeted Tess Davis New criminal law sanctions on trade and collectors, but few, if any, requirements on cultural bureaucrats and archeologists, wonder why?

Lost Emperor Discovered by English Treasure Scheme

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Within the Chalgrove hoard of nearly 5,000 Roman coins from England recorded under the Portabl Antiquities Scheme lay a surprise – a coin revealing the ‘lost emperor’ Domitianus.

What we are up Against

Wayne Sayles on The Law and Ultra Vires ( Ancient Coin Collecting Saturday, April 22, 2017):

For the first two decades after enactment, CCPIA worked as intended and focused on serious threats to Cultural Heritage. Midway in the first decade of this century there were warning signs that change was afoot. The Archaeological community theme that "Collecting equals Looting", championed by Lord Colin Renfrew, had by then become a cult-like mantra. A radical element dominated much of academia and Archaeological Institute of America leadership—and still does. What had for centuries been a productive alliance between professionals and amateurs evolved into a bitter struggle as Archaeologists became infatuated with control and dominance over what they envisioned as "their" turf. They were very well positioned to infiltrate and influence government agencies based on their credentials, social standing and natural affinity for institutional networking. It didn't take long for the protections that Congress wrote into CCPIA to vanish. By 2007, with bureaucratic intervention, the emphasis had shifted from protection of significant objects of cultural heritage to control of virtually all objects made in antiquity and well into the 18th century. The objects are targeted in a laundry list of items defined as "Cultural Property" in the UNESCO Convention, including even postage stamps over 100 years old.

More here.

Outrage: UNESCO denies Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem

The despicable UNESCO, led by a bunch of tyrants, despots and benighted third world dictatorships, condemned Israel’s sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Now it outdid itself by passing a resolution condemning Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem – the entirety of Jerusalem (Outrage: UNESCO denies Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem Anne's Opinion May 3 2017):

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — passed a resolution called “Occupied Palestine” by a vote of 22-10, with 26 countries abstaining or absent, on Tuesday. The resolution calls on Israel to rescind any “legislative and administrative measures and actions” it has taken to “alter the character and status” of Jerusalem. It rejects the idea of a “basic law” in Jerusalem, based off of a 1980 Knesset law, which implies that the city is one unified whole and governed solely by Israel. Submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, the resolution also sharply criticizes Israel’s construction in eastern Jerusalem’s Old City and “deplores” the Jewish state’s “continuous” closure of the Gaza strip. 

 The vote was taken on Israel’s Independence Day and follows a highly controversial UNESCO resolution passed last October that ignored Jewish ties to the Western Wall and Temple Mount sites. It surely was not coincidental that this bunch of bigots chose Israel’s Independence Day to hold this vote that by extension essentially denies the Jews’ right to their own homeland. After all, if Israel has no right to its capital, how could it have any right to the rest of the country?

 This vote took place despite the demand by US senators that UNESCO stop delegitimizing Israel, a demand that was utterly ignored by the hypocritical UN institution. The resolution would be utterly risible if it weren’t so dangerous. It gives cover to the Muslims’ claims to the Temple Mount and the Old City and denies any Jewish connection to Jerusalem at all throughout history. This in turn is a key source of the constant friction, incitement and violence by Muslims against Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands all voted no, and India abstained.

 Culture Minister Miri Regev was entirely correct to demand that the Israeli government shut down UNESCO’s offices in Jerusalem and return the land to the state. But until the institution changes the makeup of its membership and governing committee, nothing is ever going to change. The resolution also has almost no practical effects on the ground – BUT it will be a source of more incitement and more anti-Israel hatred amongst those who are looking for any excuse to fight not only Israel but the Jews.

89 stolen artifacts returned to Syria

Peter Tompa‏ @Aurelius161180 May 5
At least 89 stolen artifacts returned to Syria:--opposite of safe harbor; return artifacts to Assad the destroyer.