Abstract

1 'Under The Hammer,' Clarke Television for Dispatches (Channel Four 1997).

Introduction

2 'Under the Hammer,' Clarke Television for Dispatches (Channel Four 1996).
3 Peter Watson, Sotheby's: Inside Story (London 1998), page 180 - 189 and page 194 - 201.
4 Peter Watson, Ancient art without history, 14 August 1997, The Times, page 17.
5 Placing an exact figure on the loss of fine art and antiques is very difficult. These figures represent the range quoted from sources such the Metropolitan Police Force (http://www.met.police.uk/) or The Antiques Trade Gazette (http://www.antiquestradegazette.com/).
6 Brighton Art and Antiques Squad, for example, was closed in 1997. Collin Reed, Art Theft and Insurance (Lecture 1997).
7 For example, the Thesaurus Group at http://www.thesaurus.co.uk/ offers a wide variety of services covering all fine art and antiques.
8 http://www.unesco.org/ : UNESCO Home Page.

Chapter One

9 Named after the electronic device they use to find metal objects in the earth.
10Stater are gold Celtic coins and this one was particularly rare, c. 200 BC, a small gold coin roughly the size of a modern five pence piece, but worth £2,500 - £3000.
11 Information courtesy of Richard Cranwell, member of the St. Neots Metal Detecting Group and further reported in Treasure Hunting, April 1999.
12 I. M. Stead, The Salisbury Hoard (London 1998), page 147.
13 Treasure Act, enacted 1996. (London 1996)
14 Declareable at any of the Portable Antiquities Units established by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport under the new act.
15 Peter Watson, Sotheby's: Inside Story (London 1998), page 185 - 188.
16 D. Koop, Grave robbing is link to underground trade (Philidelphia, 1997), December 23 - 27 Museum Security Network Archive.
17 Neil Brodie, Pity the poor middlemen, Culture Without Context, Autumn 1998, page 7.
18 I. Ali & R. Coningham, Recording and preserving Ghandara's cultural heritage, Culture Without Context, Autumn 1998, page 10.
19 Ton Cremer, 25 Years of Museum Fires, Ten Years of Museum Theft, Museum Security Network Archive 1999.
20 Lin Jenkins, Unique Roman gems stolen from the British Museum, 24 July 1993, The Times, page 1.
21 Discussion led by Steve Keller, Jonathon Sazonoff, and Ton Cremer on the Museum Security mailing list, 9 - 20 January 1999.
22 Ton Cremer, 25 years of museum fires, 10 years of museum theft, Museum Security Network Archive 1999.
23 Pereguine Hodson, Antiquity smugglers cash in during Afghan anarchy, 12 November 1994, The Times, page 14.
24 Peter Watson, Sotheby's: Inside Story (London 1998), page 250-1. Concerning a religious icon that had been stolen from a remote Indian tribe, illegally exported by the Sham's and subsequently offered for sale at Sotheby's, London.
25 See report on ADA in Chapter 4: Organizations and Tactics in Preventing the Illicit Trade in Antiquities.
26 Susan Hadida, ADA Member's Directory 1997 / 98, page 2.
27 The Case Of The Kanakaria Mosaics, report by the Cypriot Government available from http://www.kypros.org/PIO/features/
28 Geraldine Norman, The Roman connection, 2 March 1997, The Times, Culture: page 8. This article is a fascinating insight into the 'naughtier' side of fine art and antiques.
29 Robert Lacey, Dealer takes all, 16 February 1997, The Times, Books: page 5. The Getty Museum is wary of antiquities after the allegations made against Sotheby's.
30 Richard and Helena Jaeschke, Antiquities Market (e-mail), 5 April 1999. Full text available in Appendix III.
31 ibid.
32 1996 Figures. Source: MTI Report for the Antiques Trade Gazette (London 1998), page 17.
33 Chairman, International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art
34 James Ede, The Antiquities Trade: Towards a more balanced view, Legal Aspects of International Trade in Art (Kluwer Law International 1994), page 69 - 70.
35 Nigel Reynolds, Gay loving cup bought by museum for £1.8 million, 5 May 1999, The Daily Telegraph, page 3.
36 http://www.wjc-artrecover.org/ : Home page of the Commission for Art Recovery.
37 Werner Meunsterberger, Collecting: An Unruly Passion (Princeton 1994), page 25-6.
38 Ibid, page 173.
39 Sarah Jane Checkland, Forbidden Treasures, 14 August 1993, The Times, page 3/2.
40 Postscript in a letter to Robert Curzon, reprinted in Werner Meunsterberger, Collecting: An Unruly Passion (Princeton 1994), page 74.
41 Factors Act 1884, Halsbury's Statutes 1: Agency (London 1998), page 42.
42 Dr. Gill is a senior lecturer at the University of Swansea, Wales and Dr. Chippendale is the assistant curator at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge.
43 Peter Watson, Ancient Art without a history, 14 August 1997, The Times, page 17.
44 Dayla Alberge and Stephen Farrell, Sotheby's cuts antiquity sales over 'smuggling', 20 July 1997, The Times, page 1.
45 Geoffry Barker, Sotheby's may quit Antiquity sales, 12 February 1997, Electronic Telegraph, Issue 628.

Chapter Two

46 'Souvenirs of the Grand Tour' are titles of sales held by Sotheby's and Christie's.
47 These items are perceived to be entirely legal because of the length of time that they have been in this country although many are without provenance.
48 Fellow of the British Academy and until his retirement, Deputy Keeper in the Department of Prehistoric and Romano-British antiquities at the British Museum.
49 I. M. Stead, The Salisbury Hoard (London 1998), page 125.
50 For example, the collection of George Oritz, shown at the Royal Academy in 1994, contained only 15% of the articles with solid, documented provenance. 23% were without provenance and 62% had very vague 'descriptions' of their origin. Peter Watson, Ancient art without history, 14 August 1997, The Times, page 17.
51 Lord Mc Apline '...seemed to have little interest in their provenance.' I. M. Stead, The Salisbury Hoard (London 1998), page 14.
52 For example, lot 81, A Cypriot terracotta mother goddess figurine, Sotheby's Antiquities, London 2nd July 1996, page 53.
53 Head of Christie's Archive. I am grateful to Stuart Thom who assisted me in the archives.
54 £7,200, based on the £3.60 minimum wage at eight hours a day, five days per week for 50 weeks of the year.
55 The questionnaire for this dissertation did not return enough replies to provide usable information. However, a number of comments from dealers and auctioneers have had an impact in focusing some of the problems faced by purchasers of antiquities. The full text can be found in Appendix III.
56 Peter Clayton of Seaby Antiquities. Questionnaire returned on the 5th March 1999.
57 For example, the Jackie Onasis sale, 1996. Many items were everyday objects, but they had been the property of Onasis and, therefore, gained exclusive provenance. This enhanced the value of objects and realised values shot well above the estimated price. Her engagement ring fetched $1.53 million against an estimate of $500,000.
58 I. M. Stead, The Salisbury Hoard (London 1998), page 129 - 130.
59 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, covened on the 17 November 1970.
60 D. Wilson, The British Museum: Purpose and Policies (London 1989). page 33 - 34.
61 Even though the UK has not adopted the 1970 Convention, it is important as a referral date. The current administration, under Tony Blair, is considering ratification of this agreement.
62 This argument is disliked by the commercial side of antiquities and favoured by the academic community. James Ede, a dealer, stated that this view was 'an extremely tyrannical concept,' but I think that it is important that a dealer will establish the legality of any object he is offered. For example, only buying new metal detecting finds if they have been registered on the Portable Antiquities Scheme. This not only protects the dealer, especially with the new Due Diligence code requiring them to be more careful of what they purchase, but ensures a level of fair trade and encourages buyers because they can purchase entirely licit objects. However, this could affect the trade by losing some of the excitement connected with dealing in second hand objects.
63 The Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries.
64 Screened in 1998 / 1999. Father and son scan Scottish Highlands with a metal detector, hoping to find buried 'treasure.' The advert intersperses the efforts of team with images of an ancient festival where a chieftain loses his gold brooch. The advert stops before the detectors reach the spot. The question 'what if?' is then asked of the viewer. (C) The National Lottery, Camelot 1998. This outraged some archaeologists causing much discussion on the Britarch mailing list (britarch@mailbase.ac.uk) from 17th December 1998.
65 John Harlow, Egyptians tells Britain to keep its treasures, 23 March 1997, The Sunday Times, page 5.
66 http://rethymno.forthnet.gr/marbles/pamphlet.htm : Describes the issues and ethics behind the debate over the Elgin marbles.
67 Christopher Walker, Dead sea scrolls still disputed, 22 July 1997, The Times.
68 C. Desroches-Noblecourt, Life and Death of a Pharaoh: Tutankhamen (London 1972), page 208 - 212.
69 Anon., 6 December 1997, Antique Trades Gazette, page 1.
70 P. Johnson, 20th Century Britain: Economic, Social and Cultural Change (London 1994).
71 Christopher Wood, The Great Art Boom (London 1995).
72 Peter Watson, Sale of the Centuries, 8 November 1995, Clarke Television for Dispatches.

Chapter Three

73 'Annual Report for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport 1998' (London, 1998), page 22.
74 Lot 15: A Neolithic stone ball, Sotheby's Antiquities, London, Tuesday 2 July 1996, page 17.
75 Geraldine Norman, Problems with stolen treasure, 5 April 1999, The Daily Telegraph, page 18.
76 Article 1, Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Convened at the Hague, 14 May 1954.
77 Article 4(3), ibid.
78 Omnibus, 14 September 1990, BBC 1. Concerning the Kanakaria mosaics from Cyprus
79 http://www.walrus.com/~owyman/Monte_cassino.htm : The bombing of Monte Cassino. In the current Kosovo situation, Millosovic wants to take NATO to court over the destruction of cultural property during the conflict. This might be possible due to the Hague convention.
80 Lynn Gates (Secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport), Re: Further questions (E-Mail), 5th May 1999. Full text in Appendix III.
81 http://museum-security.org/hague-convention-99.htm : Complete listing of the 1999 ratification.
82 http://museum-security.org/ : Home page of the Museum Security Network (MSN).
83 Borislav Surdic (surda@EUnet.yu) , Information about damage to cultural property (MSN mailing list), 5th April, 1999.
84 Noel Malcom, Kosovo: a Short History (London 1998).
85 Appendix I: The Law. Full text of the Convention.
86 Article 2(1), UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, covened on the 17 November 1970.
87 Article 1(3), ibid.
88 Article 1(4), ibid.
89 Article 1(5), ibid.
90 Article 5, ibid.
91 Lynn Gates, RE: Illicit trade in antiquities (E-mail), 7 April 1999. Full text in Appendix III.
92 Established through the 1996 Treasure Act.
93 Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 'Protecting the Nation's Buried Treasure' (London 1999).
94 Article 6(a), UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, covened on the 17 November 1970.
95 Article 5(g), ibid.
96 Convention came into force from 24 April 1972, three months after at least three countries had ratified the convention.
97 Article 15, ibid.
98 Lynn Gates, Re: Further questions (E-Mail), 5th May 1999. Full text in Appendix III.
99 Export licenses are granted by the Department of National Heritage to leave the UK or under EC Regulation No. 3911/92 to leave the European Community.
100 Collin Renfrew, 'Stemming the Flood of Looted Antiquities,' December 1997, British Archaeology No. 30.
101 W. V. Robinson & J. Yemma, Guatemala to Seek Return of Antiquities at Boston Museum, 4 December 1997, The Boston Globe.
102 http://www.ahip.getty.edu/pco/objectid/index.html (Protection of Cultural Objects Home page) and Appendix II: Object ID.
103 Appendix I: The Law. Full text of the Convention.
104 Lynn Gates, Re: Further questions (E-mail), 5th May, 1999. The British government has accepted a scheme for the restitution of Cultural Property through the EU Restitution Directive 1993. The UK has implemented the Directive into national law by Statutory Instrument 1994/501 and has been amended by Statutory Instrument 1997/1719.
105 'Raiders of the Lost Art,' 30 June 1997, Electronic Mail and Guardian [CD-Rom].
106 Articles 3(1), 4(1) and 4(4). Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, 1995.
107 Lynn Gates, RE: Illicit Trade in Antiquities (E-mail, 7 April 1999).
108 Andrew Finkel, Ankara claims treasures in British Museum, 13 November 1993, The Times, page 14.
109 Results: Do you feel that the Unidroit regulations, if ever accepted into the UK, will affect the trade in antiquities? Yes: 9 No: 0 Unsure: 6. 50 questionnaires were sent out to auctioneers and dealers in the antiquities trade.
110 Sale of Goods, Halsbury's Statutes No. 39 (London 1998).
111 http://www.thesaurus.co.uk/023348.CUS/copat1.htm : CoPat Home page.
112 http://www.thesaurus.co.uk/023348.CUS/copat6.htm : Further information on Market Overt.
113 Sale of Goods (Ammendment) Act, 1994. Enacted 3 January 1995.
114 Section 1, Section 2(1), Section 3(2) and Section 3(3). Treasure Act (HMSO 1996).
115 Section 10(3), ibid. Decided by the Secretary of State.
116 Section 11(1a), ibid.
117 http://www.finds.org.uk : Portable Antiquities Scheme Home Page.
118 Section 8(2), ibid.
119 Section 8(3), ibid.
120 Imported Antiques, Customs notice 362, April 1998.
121 Export License Regulations, Antiquities, Christies, 23 September 1998, page 4.
122 Enquiry explained in a telephone interview with the Advice Centre at Southampton Customs and Excise, 23 February 1999.
123 Appendix I: The Law. Full text of the dealers code.
124 Susan Hadida, ADA Code of Conduct, Section 2, 24 May 1995.

Chapter Four

125http://www-mcdonald.arch.cam.ac.uk/IARC/home.htm : Home page of IARC.
126Article 4, Statement of Intent, Home page of IARC.
127Jenny Doole (IARC Researcher), RE: Your letter of the 22 Feb. 99 (E-mail ), 22nd March 1999. Full text in Appendix III.
128Illicit Antiquities Research Centre, Culture Without Context, Issue 3, Autumn 1998, page 2.
129Available by subscription from Jenny at: jd244@cus.cam.ac.uk or at: http://www-mcdonald.arch.cam.ac.uk/IARC/CWOC/contents.htm.
130Ishan Ali and Robin Coningham, Recording and preserving Gandhara's cultural heritage, Autumn 1998, Culture Without Context, Issue 3, page 10.
131Neil Brodie, Editorial, ibid., page 3.
132Author of 'Sotheby's: Inside Story' (Bloomsbury Paperbacks, 1998) and investigator for Dispatches 'Under the Hammer' (Clark Television for Channel Four, 1996).
133House of Lords Debates, 3 June 1997 and Hansard: Written Answers, 5th July 1996.
134http://www.gii.getty.edu/giinew/pco/ : Home page for the Protection of Cultural Objects.
135Appendix II: Object ID Checklist.
136Susan Hadida, ADA Code of Conduct, Article One, Directory 1997 / 98, page 2.
137Article Two, ibid.
138Small figure created to assist the dead with mundane tasks in the afterlife.
139Telephone and e-mail conversations with the dealer from April 1999. Name withheld.
140Telephone and e-mail conversations with the dealer from April 1999. Name withheld.
141I. M. Stead, The Salisbury Hoard (London 1998), page 21.
142http://www.finds.org.uk : PAS Home page.
143http://www.finds.org.uk/questions.html : Main Aims of the PAS.
144 Treasure Act (HMSO 1996).
145 DCMS, 'Portable Antiquities Annual Report 97 / 98,' Page 4.
146http://www.museum-security.org : Museum Security Network Home page.
147http://www.museum-security.org/MSNArchive.exe : Mailing List Archive (downloadable file).
148http://wjc-artrecovery.org : World Jewish Convention, Commission for Art Recovery Home page.
149http://www.thesaurus.co.uk : Thesaurus Home page
150http://www.artloss.com : ALR Home page
151http://www.artloss.com : ALR Information
152Jim Hill, Trace (Art Theft and Insurance Lecture, March 1999).
153http://www.artloss.com/statistics/ : ALR Statistics
154http://www.thesaurus.co.uk/023348.cus/copat1.htm : CoPAT Home page.
155Sale of Goods (Ammendment) Act 1994 (HMSO 1995).
156Code of Due Diligence for Dealers and Auctioneers, CoPAT April 1999.
157http://www.met.police.uk/ : Metropolitan Police Home page.
158http://www.arttic.com/GRASP/ : GRASP Home page.
159Promotional Video for Trace, (c) Thesaurus Group, March 1999.
160http://www.purcell.co.uk : Purcell Home page.
161GRASP Project Director, Metropolitan Police Service, Department of Technology.
162BIS, part of Operation Bumblebee, The Police scheme to promote and recover stolen art and antiques.


(C) 1999 Andrew Cranwell. Last Revised 31 / 05 / 1999