Wednesday, October 23, 2013

US State Department Presses Foreign Governments on Repatriation at the Expense of the US Taxpayer

Dustin Roasa has written a comprehensive report about the ongoing forfeiture dispute between the US Government and Sotheby's over the fate of a Khmer statue.   Whatever the moral case for a return, the story should raise troubling questions about how elements within the US State Department, acting in concert with archaeologists with an axe to grind against private collecting, actively press foreign governments to seek repatriations from American interests.  And all at the expense of the US taxpayer.
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2 comments:

  1. Paul BarfordOctober 23, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    I had missed the point that Decia Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa is an American citizen. When did that happen?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cultural Property ObserverOctober 24, 2013 at 2:47 AM

    You'll note I used the word "interests." Sotheby's has filed a claim of interest in the defendant property because it has a property interest in the statue. If it did not, it would have no standing to go forward to defend that interest.

    ReplyDelete

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