Posted on: March 26, 2014 by Alexander Herman
After a saga that has lasted a quarter of a century, the Sevso Treasure has been returned to Hungary. This hoard of silver objects from the late Roman Empire, said to have originated in the area around Lake Balaton in Hungary, had been in England since appearing on the London art market in 1980. The […]
Posted on: by Nina M. Neuhaus
In early March, the Public Prosecutor of the Canton of Basle-City transferred the last 68 out of a total of 4,536 cultural artefacts to Italy. This concludes long lasting proceedings in international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. In 2000, the Italian authorities had requested Switzerland’s mutual legal assistance in criminal proceedings against an antiquities […]
Posted on: February 6, 2014 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
The Art Newspaper has reported that Italy is threatening to sue the liquidator of the assets of the disgraced antiquities dealer Robin Symes if the liquidator fails to provide information in relation to a cache of around 700 ancient objects which the Italian authorities claim left the country illegally. It is reported that Italy believes that […]
Posted on: December 31, 2013 by Cristina del Rivero
The insinuations of wrongdoing are evident in the very first line of the Los Angeles Times’ article as reporter Jason Felch (presumably intentionally) refers to Cornell University “preparing to forfeit” to Iraq thousands of ancient cuneiform tablets. The clay blocks depicting scenes of daily life and the previously unknown high status of women in society […]
Posted on: December 15, 2013 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry has announced that a priceless statuette of the sister of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun has been found in Cairo, though few details as to precisely how it came to be recovered have been released. The statuette, which was the highlight of the museum in the city of Mallawi (near the archaeological remains […]
Posted on: November 29, 2013 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
The Cypriot antiquities department has announced the return of approximately 170 religious artefacts stolen from churches in the north of the island following the Turkish invasion – said to be the largest number of cultural objects ever repatriated. The antiquities, which consist of icons, mosaics and fragments of wall paintings, were found in the possession of Turkish […]
Posted on: November 18, 2013 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
In 2013 several of the major international conventions for the protection of cultural property have witnessed a growth in the number of ratifications and acceptances. The First and Second Protocols to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict have been ratified by New Zealand (which ratified the main […]
Posted on: November 15, 2013 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
Following reports of widespread damage and looting at cultural heritage sites in Syria, ICOM (the International Council of Museums) has published the Emergency Red List of Syrian Cultural Objects at Risk with the aim of helping art and heritage professionals and law enforcement officials identify Syrian objects that are protected by national and international legislations. In […]