A Web Log Championing the Longstanding Interests of Collectors in the Preservation, Study, Display and Enjoyment of Cultural Artifacts Against an "Archaeology Over All" Perspective
Monday, November 26, 2012
Re-Repatriation
Germany has agreed to repatriate a winged seahorse brooch back to Turkey. The brooch is the most significant piece from the so-called Lyidan Hoard that was first repatriated to Turkey by the MET back in the 1993, but then illegally sold off by a Turkish Museum director to help pay off gambling debts. Given the embarassing situation, Turkish officials have not been exactly seeking extensive publicity for the return. It remains unclear how the brooch got to Germany, and what, if any, plans the Turkish government has to secure it in the future.
hi peter,unfortunately there are are greedy unscrupulous people in all walks of life,yes,even museum curators are not immune,though this is certainly not confined to curators from source countrys[remember wyatt yeager from the money museum in colorado,he didnt even bother with smuggling all the stolen coins out of the us,selling some in st.louis and baltimore]but what you touched on at the end of your post, for me is really important.how did this piece get to germany,who was the person trying to sell it,for me these are the most important questions that need to be answerd.
ReplyDeletekyri.
Yes, certainly there are problems with some curators in Western Countries as well, but in this particular case the curator in question led the repatriation charge and the Turkish Government has recently been very aggressive in such matters, no matter the date the item allegedly left Turkey. That deserves some scrutiny as well, not just how it got to Germany.
ReplyDeleteit allways brings a wry smile to my face when the turkish authorities are seeking to repatriate greek art to turkey,especially considering their tratment of greek cultural artifacts in cyprus and turkey itself up to a few decades ago.
ReplyDeletefor me the serpent column in constantinople is just as important as the parthenon marbles to the greeks,it represents an important moment in time,erected in 479 bc at delphi by the greek city states who fought and defeated the persians and who are named individulally on the coils,why isnt this piece in greece were it belongs?this is like nelsons column being in spain or germany.why dont they return it to greece as a goodwill gesture,the greeks have no legal right to the serpent but surely it is a piece directly linked to greek history but turkey making a "goodwill gesture" to one of its neighbours is as rare as hens teeth.as for this turkish curator,he was obviously a hypocrite as well as a crook.sorry for the rant.
kyri.