A 53-year-old man was arrested yesterday and charged with grand larceny he was accused of selling selling fraudulent African artwork, the police said. Mourtala Diop, 53, of East 54th Street, was arrested after a 74-year-old man who lives on the Upper East Side complained that Mr. Diop had sold him a fake statue. Mr. Diop's residence and workplace were searched, and a second victim was discovered, who said Mr. Diop had sold a statue for $300,000 to $500,000 that was not worth that, the police said. Tina Kelley (NYT)
15th-century marble statue shatters after falling at New York's Metropolitan Museum
Tue Oct 8,10:53 PM ET By LUKAS I. ALPERT, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A 15th-century marble statue of Adam regarded as priceless toppled over at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and broke into dozens of pieces, the museum's director said. "An accident like this is a deep emotional loss," Philippe de Montebello said Tuesday. The life-size nude by Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo fell after its pedestal gave way, de Montebello said. The accident apparently happened after closing time Sunday, when a security guard heard a crash. "It could have been a problem with its construction, or maybe (the pedestal) had just been moved too many times," he said. Conservationists should be able to restore the statue, but the work could take as long as two years, de Montebello said. The statue, dated from between 1490 and 1495, came to the museum in 1936 and is part of its permanent collection, according to the museum's Web site. The statue of Adam holding an apple was noted for the purity of its marble and its smooth, elegant carving. A serpent and a grapevine on a tree trunk alluded to the fall and redemption of man.
Jordanian team begins repairs on disputed Jerusalem holy site
Tue Oct 8,10:11 AM ET By YOAV APPEL, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Jordan has stepped into a squabble between Israel and the Palestinians at Jerusalem's most disputed holy site and has started to repair a bulging wall in danger of collapse, officials said Tuesday. Repair of the southern retaining wall of the Haram as-Sharif mosque compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, had stalled amid wrangling over who should supervise the work. The mosques are built on the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples, and the site is sacred to both religions. A 35-foot-wide bulge in the wall had raised concerns that the structure could collapse, possibly on the heads of Muslim worshippers in a converted underground mosque inside the compound. Each side has blamed the other for the wall's deterioration. A collapse could cause a regional conflagration. Israel captured the compound during the 1967 Mideast War, but left day-to-day running of the site to the Islamic Trust, or Waqf. Isam Awwad, an architect with the Islamic Trust, said Tuesday that a technical team from Jordan took samples from the wall Monday. "They will collect between four and five samples and take them to the Royal Scientific Society in Amman where they will analyze the samples and prepare a report," Awwad said. Jordanian Religious Affairs Minister Ahmad Helayel said the repair team consists of six engineers. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) who met with key officials last week to discuss the problem told reporters Tuesday that "the steps we have taken on this issue were the correct ones," but did not confirm Jordanian participation. "We are doing all that is necessary so that worshippers ... will not be hurt," Sharon said. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Israel had requested Jordanian involvement in order to solve the impasse between Israeli government officials and the Islamic Trust over the repairs. Israeli archeologists have blamed the Islamic Trust for damaging the wall during renovations of an underground area known as Solomon's Stables, which abuts the wall inside the compound near the outward protruding bulge. The Islamic Trust has blamed Israeli archaeological excavations at the wall's base for causing its deterioration. The Israeli Antiquities Authority and the Jerusalem Municipality declined comment. A Sept. 28, 2000 visit by Sharon, then a government opposition leader, to the compound sparked riots that quickly expanded throughout the region. During the two years of bloodshed that has followed, the trust has banned all non-Muslims from the site.
Explorers to Try to Salvage Warship
Mon Oct 7, 5:49 AM ET
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A Florida salvage company struck a 20-year deal with Britain to search for riches in a sunken 17th century warship that went down in the Mediterranean Sea with a vast load of treasure. The 157-foot H.M.S. Sussex, which sank off Gibraltar in 1694 laden with gold and silver, might be the richest shipwreck ever, with experts estimating a treasure potentially worth $4 billion. The valuable cargo was headed to Spain to secure the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, who Britain hoped would help thwart the military ambitions of France's King Louis XIV, when the ship sank in heavy seas. Most of the 500 men aboard were killed, and the duke declined to help Britain and its allies. The body of the captain, Sir Francis Wheeler, washed up in Gibraltar soon after the vessel was lost. Odyssey Marine Exploration researchers found what they believed to be the hulking wreck in 1998, using records of where the ship sank. The wreckage's identity will not be confirmed until the excavation starts next year. Odyssey will spend three to six months exploring the wreck, which is a half-mile deep. The team will use robotic vehicles to explore the ship. Odyssey is covering the initial costs, which could be more than $5 million. The company will sell harvested coins, and Britain will help with the marketing. The deal allows Odyssey to claim 80 percent of the first $45 million made from selling the coins. Any proceeds between $45 million and $500 million will be split 50-50 between Britain and the company. Anything more than that, Britain will get 60 percent and Odyssey 40 percent.
Turner's family fight to reclaim paintings
By Nilufer Atik, Evening Standard
Descendants of William Turner are threatening to take back hundreds of his paintings because galleries did not honour the terms of his will. Relatives say the Tate and the National Gallery ignored the artist's wishes that his collection, now worth an estimated £500million, should be kept in rooms specifically for his work. They are considering legal action to try to force the galleries to return the paintings. Several members of the family have consulted a barrister in probate law, Leolin Price QC, urging a writ to be issued against the galleries so they can reclaim the paintings. The family wants an Act of Parliament to bring the collection under one roof. Their claim is based on a clause in Turner's will specifying his paintings should be left to the National Gallery and hung in their own rooms. The 1848 will, written three years before his death, also stated the gift should be void after 10 years if the conditions were not met. But the gallery moved some paintings and sketches to the Tate after claiming it did not have the space. The Tate recently opened the Clore Gallery - where most of Turner's 300 paintings and 20,000 sketches are kept - to other artists, further angering the family. Mr Price said there was no moral justification for the collection remaining a national asset unless the terms of the will were met, adding: "The collection has been retained and dealt with dishonourably." Stephen Deuchar, director of Tate Britain, said: "Turner is more visible than ever before at Tate Britain and Tate recently launched online access to the entire bequest." A spokeswoman for the National Gallery said: "The whole business of the Turner bequest has been discussed over many years. " http://www.thisislondon.com/
Lowry bust is stolen from hotel
The bust was stolen from the five-star Lowry Hotel
Police forces across Europe have been alerted after a bronze bust of the artist LS Lowry was stolen from a Greater Manchester hotel. The artwork was taken from the five-star hotel which bears his name in Salford. He sat for it in 1975 and it is believed to be worth £8,500. Security at the hotel has now been stepped up. Some art critics believe the sculpture captures the essence of the artist - famous for his matchstick men and northern industrial landscapes. The heavy bronze bust, by Ruth Roland, was stolen despite being fixed in a granite base in a prominent position in the hotel. Security guards thought it had been taken away for cleaning at first. But an international alert was triggered after the hotel managers realised thieves had struck. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
FTC takes action against fake Native artwork
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANCHORAGE - An effort to help consumers identify Alaska Native-made products and get people to report fakes has resulted in a handful of investigations by the Federal Trade Commission. Some 950,000 brochures and post cards were distributed in Alaska communities, gift shops, art galleries and on cruise ships this tourist season to help visitors tell genuine Alaska Native arts and crafts from imitations, said Chuck Harwood, FTC regional director in Seattle. The campaign cost $46,000 and spurred reports from consumers who believed they may have been duped into buying counterfeit Alaska Native-made arts or crafts. Other reports came from former employees of Alaska gift shops turning in their old bosses, Harwood said. Harwood told the Alaska Journal of Commerce he could not go into detail because the cases are pending. The state attorney general's office, the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the U.S. Department of Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board joined the FTC in the campaign. While it only resulted in a few tips, it's a start, Harwood said. "It's difficult to get a handle on the scope of this problem," Harwood said. "A handful of reports is major. ... We're getting people to report, so it's a success." Alaska Native art is a multimillion dollar industry. Selling fake pieces as genuine is a violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. The agency has done investigative work in Alaska in the past, sending "undercover shoppers" into gift shops and galleries. "We much prefer people to give us a call and tell us of problems," Harwood said. "It makes for a cleaner case." Violators are subject to fines or prison. Only one case in the last few years has been prosecuted in Alaska. Jack Tripp, a Juneau gift shop owner, was fined $20,000 in 1996 for misrepresenting Alaska Native art, Harwood said. The art was made by Asian artists who used Eskimo-like names to sign their pieces, Harwood said. The public education campaign that began last spring was in part to help bring notice to the state's Silver Hand program, established in 1961 to help identify Alaska Native arts and crafts. The program uses a hand-shaped logo on a tag or sticker to identify Alaska Native art as authentic to protect the consumer and the artist. Saunders McNeill, Native arts program director at the state Council on the Arts, said the program is funded at $50,000 annually and represents about 1,400 certified artists. The Alaska State Council on the Arts has managed the program since 1998. Artists qualify by being at least a quarter Alaska Native. They must be residents and use mainly natural materials, according to the program's guidelines. However, many Alaska Native artists do not participate. Sometimes shop owners remove Silver Hand certification because it raises questions for other legitimate Alaska Native-made art, McNeill said. Rita Holden, manager of One People Gifts in downtown Anchorage, said the Silver Hand program does little for Native artists. "Some of our nicest work, frankly, comes from street people," Holden said. "They are not about to apply for that silly little paw. They think it's dumb."
Britain returns stolen sunken treasure to Italy
BY SHASTA DARLINGTON Reuters
ROME - The British government handed back to Italy on Wednesday a treasure-trove of diamonds, coins and even a nautical toilet plundered by modern day pirates from a ship that sank in Italian waters in 1841. Scotland Yard recovered the haul, which was lifted from the shipwrecked vessel by a group of illegal salvagers using cranes, when the looters tried to sell it at an auction in West London. "I am just glad that we were able to return these goods back to the Italians," said Vernon Rapley, head of Scotland Yard's arts and antiques unit, who traveled to Florence to hand the haul over to the local government. The loot, valued at about 1.5 million euros (dollars) by Italian police, included diamonds and other jewels, more than 300 gold coins and a couple of thousand silver coins, antique ceramics, portholes from the wooden ferry and the ship's head, or water closet. "Believe it or not, the water closet had been priced at 800 pounds ($1,240) for the auction," Rapley said. "But the coins were the most important part of the catch." The treasure was being sent to a museum in nearby Pisa. The pillagers, three Britons, discovered the wrecked sea vessel Pollux two years ago in more than 320 feet of water near Elba, a Mediterranean island off the Tuscan coast. They had been searching for a wrecked British merchant ship and had got permission to retrieve a load of tin on board that vessel, police said. Instead they used the sonar scanner and crane to plunder the Italian shipwreck, tearing out large chunks of the vessel in the process and taking the booty back to Britain with them. "It was a destructive method since they weren't seeing what they were doing," Rapley said. Police seized the booty at the London auction house in 2001. The divers have claimed they thought they were in international waters and could legally dive for the treasure. They were initially arrested and later given official warnings for looting. The Pollux is believed to have been a ferry carrying some 100 passengers and their valuables between France and Italy. Art experts estimate that the global black market in stolen antiquities generates about $9.5 billion a year. Italy and France are the two main targets, accounting for more than 12,000 stolen pieces of art every year, with Italy's churches and archaeological sites a favorite for thieves.