Image Credit: Exhibition Arte Liberata 1937-1947: Masterpieces Saved from War.

This past week Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper stirred up a long-standing dispute between Italy's National Roman Museum and Germany's Antikensammlungen state antiquities collection regarding who is  the rightful owner of the Discobolus Lancellotti, also known as the Discobolus Palombara.  Frozen in a moment of dynamic tension, much like the ownership debate, the marble depiction of an athlete stands as a remarkable example of the classical aesthetics that characterised the ancient world. 

Believed to be a 2nd Century CE marble copy modelled after the original bronze Greek masterpiece created by Myron of Eleutherae around 450 BCE, the Roman version has endured through the centuries and offers its viewers a fascinating glimpse into the Roman's appreciation for the athletes and artistry of the Greeks, as well as the contentious nature of provenance.  The statue depicts the sportsman frozen in a moment of athletic intensity, poised like a coiled spring wound in high tension, to intricately render the disk thrower's musculature and balance. 

The anatomy of the discobolus, as drawn by the talented @PaulCarneyArts

The ancient Villa Palombara in a map engraved by Giovanni Battista Falda (1676).

Depicting an athlete who competed in Greek agones (athletic competitions), the sculpture's popularity became uniquely recognisable, even to non art historians.  But back then, its discovery provided us with a fascinating glimpse into the artistic preferences and lavish lifestyles of ancient Rome's elites, and marked a seminal moment in what we now know and understand about artistic preferences in the classical period.   

Having reattached his right arm and left foot, the Discobolus sculpture was taken by the Massimo (later Lancellotti) family to Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, the site of the family's ancestral properties, located on Via Papalis (now Corso Vittorio Emanuele II).  There it was given its own private viewing room on the palazzo's piano nobile or main floor.  Later, it would it be installed by Prince Filippo Massimo Lancellotti and Princess Elisabetta Borghese Aldobrandini at the Palazzo Massimo Lancellotti.

By January 1937 the Lancellotti family was actively shopping the sculpture for a new owner.  Following the 25 January 1937 death of Princess Elisabetta Borghese Aldobrandini, we can document a 29 January 1937 letter written by Gisela Richter to The Metropolitan Museum of Art's director, Herbert E. Winlock, where the US museum director was alerted to the fact that the Discobolus had been shopped by “the very difficult old lady at the head of the house” to foreign museums. 

Yet despite the Met's rather healthy gathered purchase budget, capped at $300,000, including export fees, and with Joseph Brummer acting as the museum's purchasing agent through Roman antiquities’ dealers, Ettore and Augusto Jandolo, the Met moved too slow and the marble sculpture was sold to the German state.  As a consolation prize, the Met was still able to acquire a marquetry studiolo from Federico da Montefeltro’s palace in Gubbio which was sold by the Lancellotti family in 1937 to Adolph (Adolpho) Loewi, a German Jewish art and antiquities dealer who flipped it to the Met before leaving Italy in 1939. 

Germany's fascination with the Discobolus 

Even before its purchase, the discobolus was firmly cemented in the hearts of Germans.  More so when held up as the ideal in the rhetoric, propaganda, art, and architecture of National Socialism.  This fascination can be seen in the evocative prologue of the 1936 film directed by Leni Riefenstahl Olympia – Festival of Nations which documented that Summer's Olympics, held in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin during the Nazi period. 

Released in Germany on Hitler’s birthday on 20 April 1938, one month shy of the Nazis’ purchase of the statue, the film begins with a fanciful recreation of the ruins of the Acropolis of Athens, focusing in, with short clips, on a varying group of greek statues before the montage concludes with the Discobolus as it gradually morphs into the ideal German athlete, Erwin Huber, who competed in the men's decathlon. His transformation showcased the 'Vigour and beauty' of ancient Greece reborn in modern Germany.

But back to its sale

Bear in mind that in 1937 when Adolf Hitler first expressed interest in the Discobolus, Italy's cultural property was already protected by Law No. 364/1909, commonly referred to as the 'Rosadi-Rava Law. This law, approved by the Italian parliament, stated that when a good owned by an individual or a private entity is classified as cultural property, the owner remained under an obligation to preserve its integrity (Article 20(1)(a) of the CHC). Furthermore, an authorisation by the Ministry of Education was required before such objects could be moved from their current location, for example, for a showing at an exhibition (Article 20(1)(b) of the CHC)3 or for restoration (Article 20(4) of the CHC).  

In the case of sale, a privately owned antiquity, classified as cultural property, might be sold, but the seller has an obligation to notify the contract to the Italian State within 30 days of the date of the sale. In case of sale, the State has a pre-emption right, to be exercised within 60 days of the date of receipt of the sale notice (Article 59 of the CHC), all this to say that cultural property of a historic interest to the stated should not have been exported from the national territory on a permanent basis. 

Despite this, Benito Mussolini forced the hand of his then-Minister of Education, Giuseppe Bottai, by tacitly approving an export waiver to Adolf Hitler and not stepping in to deny the statue's export. On 18 May 1938 Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini’s son in law and the Foreign Minister of Fascist Italy from 1936 to 1943, sold the Discobolus for five million lire ($252,000, as calculated later by the US Office of Military Government [OMGUS]), over the protests of Giuseppe Bottai, Minister of Education, and the scholarly community. The German government then paid an additional 1,485,000 lire in export tax to complete the acquisition. 

On 29 June 1938 the Discobolus by train to Germany and was put on display at the Munich Glyptothek, with Hitler in attendance for its opening premiere on by 10 July 1938.  Some say Hitler opted for the Munich museum over the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin as a technique of oneupmanship.  One hundred years earlier, Ludwig I, the King of Bavaria, had sought the famous statue for his own collections. 

Adolf Hitler in the Munich Glyptothek with the Lancellotti Discobolus, 10 July 1938 - Image Credit US Library of Congress

The remains of the Roman Hall of the Munich Glyptothek in 1945

By: Lynda Albertson

Image Credit: Archaeology IN - Libya

Following the order of the Central Court of Investigation number 6 of Madrid on 24 November 2023, it was announced last week that Spain had provisionally delivered a grouping of antiquities including four marble sculptures and eight mosaics, recovered during Operación Harmakis to the Libyan authorities at the country's  embassy in Spain.  

Hardly covered in the English speaking press, the pieces were formally transferred at a ceremony held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid, the pieces were delivered to Mohamed Alfaloos, the general director of Museums and Archeology of Libya, and representatives of the ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs.  Seized during investigations conducted by Spain's law enforcement authorities, each of the artefacts has been earmarked by the Court as having been looted in the North African country, coming from Balagrae (modern day al-Bayda), Apollonia (modern day Marsa-Susa), and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cyrene (near modern day Shahhat).   They will remain at the Libyan embassy in Madrid, in the custody of the Libyan ambassador to Spain, Walid Abu Abdulla, as per the court's ruling, until the legal case surrounding them has concluded. 

The recovery of these artefacts dates back to late March 2018, when, after three years of investigations involving some fifty law enforcement officers, including the Spanish Policía Nacional, the UDEV Central de la Comisaría General de Policía Judicial and the UCIE de la Comisaría General de Información formal charges were brought against ancient art dealer Jaume Bagot and his partner Oriol Carreras Palomar.  During which, the pair were taken into custody under suspicion for their alleged participation in a crime of financing terrorism, belonging to a criminal organisation, concealment of contraband and use of forgery for their roles in facilitating the sale of illicit antiquities.

During the 2018 Harmakis action, five property searches were conducted, three in Barcelona and two in Argentona, with police inspecting a restoration studio, a deposit/warehouse where the artworks were stored, Bagot's residence and his Barcelona art gallery and the home of Oriol Carreras Palomar.  During the execution of these search warrants, artefacts from multiple countries and circulation documentation were retained by police as evidence in a criminal investigation. 

On March 28th of that same year, the Policía Nacional in Barcelona released a video which depicts part of the searches in which some of the objects sequestered during their investigation can be identified. In this opensource video, some of the mosaics handed over to the Libyan authorities can be seen beginning at 0.38 seconds into the video.  In addition, the marble head of Demeter is depicted from 0.58 until its boxing at 1.11 and the Roman togatus can be seen at 1.19. 

Answering to the charges in Spain, Jaume Bagot and Oriel Carreras appeared before Judicial Magistrate Diego de Egea of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 of the National Court on March 26, 2018 where each were formally informed of the allegations and charges pending against them.  During the hearing the magistrate granted both men release pending trial, while imposing a financial surety (bond) of €12000 and a series of pretrial release conditions which include the forfeiture of their passports, a mandate to remain within the territory of Spain, and biweekly court appearances as conditions of their release while awaiting trial.

Standing by the all too familiar, I didn't know approach, which has, for so long, contributed to some of the challenges of prosecuting individuals for the illegal trafficking of cultural objects,  Bagot pleaded his innocence in handling blood antiquities in an March 30, 2018 interview with Crónica Global Media.  When asked the carefully-worded question --Do you claim not to have bought any objects from sellers in Iraq, Libya or Syria?  The Spanish dealer responds cleverly:

Never in life. What they intend in the Civil Guard report - to which I have not had access because it is confidential - is to make the judge see that I transported these objects or that I was in charge, through third parties, of moving them from a country. in a conflict zone to another country where there is legality to buy them legally in order to justify the operation.

The police say that I have expressly arranged to buy an object in Libya, take it to Dubai and sell it in Spain. But this is not the case, I don't know any people from Libya, nor do I have any contacts in Libya or anything.

What the Barcelona dealer failed to acknowledge in his interview was that he has bought artefacts coming from conflict and post conflict countries, via intermediary sellers, in multiple countries, who are known for brokering the sales of ancient objects from countries plagued with political and civil upheaval including, in this case, funerary sculptures of Cyrene in Libya.  This demonstartes, once again, that the routes laundered "blood antiquities" travel can be circuitous and that the international flow patterns conflict, and post conflict, antiquities travel often involve intermediary countries with willing middlemen.  This allows bad acting dealers in market country galleries to profess their purchases to these third-parties were made in good faith.  That is, until officers leading investigations gather evidence which proves definitively otherwise. 

Let's not forget that the 10th section of the Rome court in Italy sentenced Jaume Peix Bagot to 4.5 years of incarceration for his handling & laundering of the second-century headless Roman sculpture depicting the Muse Calliope which had been stolen from actor Roberto Benigni's villa in 2010.  That sculpture was identified in Spain with the dealer in April 2019 and was identified as part of a multinational investigation conducted by the Spanish authorities and Italy's Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale who also recovered another sculpture in  the posession of another Spanish dealer that had been stolen from Villa Borghese.

ARCA would like to close this blog post with a reminder to its collecting readers that the market for illicit antiquities operates within the framework of basic economic principles, where the scarcity of authentic material and supply and demand dynamics play a pivotal role in incentivising the clandestine trade in ancient artefacts.  As the demand for antiquities by collectors, private investors, and museums increases, this buying power in turn stimulates profiteering individuals to acquire more and more material, sometimes sourcing artefacts through individuals who engage in, or turn a blind eye to, where, or who, a sellable object comes from.

Collectors of ancient art who acquire archaeological material without conducting thorough scrutiny of the sellers, especially when encountering seemingly too-good-to-be-true items like a Hellenistic Greek marble head from a war torn country, inadvertently fuel a perpetuating cycle of illegal activities. Unchecked acquisitions also contribute to the ongoing destruction of archaeological sites, posing a threat to the preservation of our historical record. 

A more conscientious approach involves diligent research into the provenance and legal status of what a collector or museum are purchasing, accompanied by a proactive "Know Your Seller" strategy. This not only shields the purchaser from potential legal complications but also plays a pivotal role in disrupting the demand side of the illicit supply chain for cultural goods, particularly antiquities from conflict-ridden regions. 

Responsible acquisition practices can and does empower collectors to contribute actively to the protection of global cultural heritage. By prioritising the preservation of our shared human history over profit, collectors wield significant influence in fostering an art market characterized by ethical values and a genuine commitment to cultural preservation.

By:  Lynda Albertson

Before ISIS and the attack on Palmyra, before the demolition of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban, came what was the greatest deliberate destruction of cultural heritage in Europe since World War Two during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, a war whose reverberations were felt around the world. 

Far more than any other any other structure, the demolition of Mostar’s graceful sixteenth-century Ottoman Old Bridge, or Stari Most, became emblematic of the attacks on cultural heritage during the conflict. The intensive shelling of the bridge by the HVO  and the collapse of the bridge into the river Neretva on 9 November 1993 was a seminal moment in the intentional destruction of cultural heritage during conflict that provoked outrage around the world. 

A symposium marking the 30th anniversary of the Old Bridge’s destruction was held at the Society of Antiquaries of London on 9 November 2023. Among the speakers were Helen Walasek, author of Bosnia and the Destruction of Cultural Heritage (the event’s organiser), who gave an overview of the history of the Old Bridge, its destruction and reconstruction, while Professor Luke Moffett of Queen’s University Belfast spoke on legal protections for cultural heritage during armed conflicts using the case of the prosecution of the Herceg-Bosna leaders (Prlić et al) at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), looking at the original guilty verdict for the destruction of the bridge and how that verdict was overturned on appeal.

Heritage expert Robert Bevan, author of The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War and Monumental Lies: Culture Wars and the Truth About the Past spoke on authenticity in the restoration and rebuilding of historic monuments and the 'new' Old Bridge, while art provenance researcher Saida Hasanagic described what the destruction of the Stari Most and its rebuilding meant to her and her family, incorporating as well her recent interviews with local residents and international visitors to Mostar alike.

The event ended with Architectural Association lecturer architect Nerma Cridge speaking on Mostar’s vandalised and neglected Partisan Memorial Cemetery which lies a short distance from the Stari Most, whose huge and spectacular design was by famed architect and former mayor of Belgrade, Bogdan Bogdanović who died in exile in Vienna.

Films of the destruction of the Stari Most were screened, including from SENSE Center for Transitional Justice’s website Targeting History and Memory recording excerpts from the ICTY war crimes prosecution relating to the destruction of the Old Bridge, as well as recently released footage showing the Croatian Army’s (HV) active participation in the attack on the bridge. The event ended with The Forgotten a 2012 film by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) introduced by IWPR’s Managing Editor Daniella Pelled.

You can watch the proceedings published on the Society of Antiquaries’ YouTube channel below. 

As those who read our earlier article this week have seen, ARCA matched several of the recovered jewellery pieces to exhibitions which displayed 21 pieces of jewellery owned by LLC Rodovid Museum.  This relatively new company is controlled by Ukrainian businessman Igor Didkovsky, who, during the presidency of now deposed Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko, was once the director of the Art Arsenal from 2007 to 2010.  

From August 2007 to June 2009, Didkovsky also headed the Viche political party, which has since changed its name to Aktsent (in 2018).  Didkovsky has described himself as the president of the RODOVID group of companies as well as the Chairman of the supervisory board of ВАТ КУА ІСІ "МИР", which appears to be a closed-end venture investment fund.  

Interviewed in 2012, Didkovsky boasted that he was the owner of the largest collection of Scythian gold in the world. At the time of these statements, it was reported that his collection included 4 pectorals as well as the only belt of a Scythian queen.  All of which the collector claimed to have purchased for "a small amount of money."   

Igor Didkovsky and the belt of a Scythian queen

Didkovsky's collection has been displayed in 2009 in an Art Arsenal exhibition titled “From the Depths”. In 2010 it popped up briefly at a meeting of the "Club of Successful Women", in Kyiv.  And lastly, over three days, the gold was displayed at the International Forum of Investment and Innovation held at the Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv from May 15 -17, 2013.  

As has been stated in the Policia Nacional press release, the joint Spanish - Ukrainian investigation was kickstarted in 2021 with the private sale of what was described as a Scythian "gold belt with ram heads that was deposited in a safe in Madrid."   If the object identified in the Spain case is the same belt of a Scythian queen mentioned by Didkovsky, we now have a Facebook social media photo identifying that specific artefact, when it was listed as part of the exhibition held at the Kyiv hotel.

Black Archaeology + wealth + unethical collecting + confllict excavations

At its peak in the Middle Ages, the Slavic kingdom of the Kyivan Rus, as Ukraine was then known, extended north from the Black Sea to encompass most of what is now western Russia.  Rich in history, Ukraine's movable cultural heritage includes material from Paleolithic and Neolithic settlements, the settlements of the Trypillian people, and the rare, but glittery, gold-filled Scythian and Sarmatian burial sites.

Other Scythian sites can be found on either side of the Kerch Straits between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as in the Caucasus Mountains primarily along the Kuban River and in the contested area of Crimea.  

Unfortunately, privately collecting by the country's elite who too often have an odious lack of concern for an object's origins, is all too prevalent.  Following its independence, Ukraine has seen the rise of several private archaeological collections, of which only a few have any footprint in the public domain.  

In addition to Didkovsky's we also have the Feldman collection, which was started by Oleksandr Feldman, and is now part of the Feldman Family Museum project in Kharkiv, the Platar and the Yushchenko collections.

Sergei Platonov died in 2005, leaving his ancient art collection, the Platar, to his heirs and business partners.  While living, he often indicated that he and his colleague, politician Sergey Taruta, bought material specifically to protect Ukraine's heritage from avaricious foreigners.  Like Didkovsky, Platonov didn't shy away from acknowledging to have purchased artefacts sourced via black archaeology -- the looting of archaeological sites, rather than through the ethical purchase of artefacts already in circulation from legitimate sources. 

Recently, in May 2023 Censor.NET journalist Tetyana Nikolayenko published a copy of the letter in which the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed the opening of an investigation after State Customs at the border in the Lviv region detained Chinese objects from the same Platar collection mentioned earlier.  According to statements by this collection's patrons, Sergei Platonov's son Mykola Platonov and Sergey Taruta, the items were being exported to Prague for an exhibition at the Galerie Gema s.r.o, a rather oddly selected venue for historic pieces of that calibre. 

In 2021, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation issued a permit for archaeological work in occupied Crimea specifically at the site of Chersonesus.  Working in an area covering some 400,000 square meters, the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archaeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Sevastopol State University began excavating, in some cases using heavy equipment and improper scientific methods as trenches were cleared.

This exploration is openly reported on the Hermitage website, despite the fact that it  violates the 1954 Hague Convention,

According to this report published by the State Hermatage Museum, excavations by their researchers uncovered 70 objects which were then transferred to the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia in contravention of Ukraine's cultural heritage laws.   

These objects included:

"a set of dishes for a funeral meal (jugs, bowls, drinking vessels), clay lamps, glass balsamaria, bone and bronze pyxides, small household items made of non-ferrous and precious metals, jewelry and clothing decorative elements, agate and carnelian beads, pendants from Egyptian faience. Gold eyecups and mouthpieces were discovered in the urns - details of the funeral rites of noble citizens of Roman times."

It should be underscored that the provisions of the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict states as follows:

Article 9 - Protection of cultural property in occupied territory 

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention, a Party in occupation of the whole or part of the territory of another Party shall prohibit and prevent in relation to the occupied territory: 

(a) any illicit export, other removal or transfer of ownership of cultural property; 

(b) any archaeological excavation, save where this is strictly required to safeguard, record or preserve cultural property; 

(c) any alteration to, or change of use of, cultural property which is intended to conceal or destroy cultural, historical or scientific evidence. 

2. Any archaeological excavation of, alteration to, or change of use of, cultural property in occupied territory shall, unless circumstances do not permit, be carried out in close cooperation with the competent national authorities of the occupied territory.

Just my way of saying to those in a position of wealth and/or power the axe forgets, but the tree remembers.

By:  Lynda Albertson

Officers working with Spain's Policía Nacional have recovered a collection of Scythian, Greek craftsmanship VIII-IVth century BCE gold jewellery.  The pieces, which consist mainly of necklaces and earrings, had been fenced by a criminal network involved in the sale of Ukraine-sourced antiquities via a web of sales transactions, at least one of which was identified in Madrid.   

According to statements released by Spain's National Police, the jewellery had previously been exhibited in an unnamed Kyiv museum between 2009-2013.  While the museum was not mentioned in the law enforcement press release, one of the striking pieces was fairly easy to recognise, which has helped identify at least one public showing of several of the now-seized pieces.  

The piece we first recognised is a striking openwork royal chest decoration, made up of four strands of woven gold, depicting images of animals and plants.  The object is similar to the famous Mozolevsky pectoral, found in 1971 in the Tolstaya Mogila mound near Ordzhonikidze.  This one however is stated to have possibly come from Kul-oba, a burial mound of a Scythian leader, discovered in 1830 near Kerch, Crimea which was partially looted prior to formal excavations. 

This recovered pectoral, a second container for storing aromatic oils decorated with carnelian stones, a pair of the earrings, a pin, and a collar necklace all match objects which have been part of an exhibition entitled “From the Depths” which was held at the then unfinished Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum on Mazepa Street in Kiev.  

Along with unique exhibits from state museums, the exhibition included a grouping of gold jewellery from the private museum collection "Rodovid", and were registered with the Ministry of Culture with inventory numbers. None of these items could be sold or taken out of Ukraine (unless their export was authorised for a  exhibition loan).

The seized jewellery is believed to have been smuggled illegally out of Ukraine on/around 2016.  Police have indicated that the confiscated cultural assets had been shopped with forged ownership documents which claimed that the jewellery was the legal property of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.  To assist in carrying out this ruse, the objects were marketed through a priest who is reported to live in the Spanish capital.

For the present, all of the recovered  pieces are being studied at the National Archaeological Museum and the Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain.

By: Lynda Albertson

Convegno: La protezione dei beni culturali in situazioni di rischio. Il ruolo della Croce Rossa*

Università degli Studi di Bergamo - Aula Magna

Ex Monastero di Sant'Agostino - Piazzale Sant'Agostino 2, Bergamo

Una giornata di studi dedicata al tema “La protezione dei beni culturali in situazioni di rischio. Il ruolo della Croce Rossa ” che si terrà il 3 novembre nell’Aula Magna dell’Università degli Studi di Bergamo, nella sede dell’ex convento di Sant’Agostino.

Il convegno è promosso da Croce Rossa Italiana - Comitati di Bergamo e Brescia nell’ambito del progetto “Uno Scudo per la cultura”, organizzato in occasione di Bergamo Brescia Capitale della Cultura 2023, nel solco della campagna nazionale di Croce Rossa Italiana “Il futuro ha una lunga storia. Proteggiamola”.

Fanno parte del Comitato scientifico: Giulio Bartolini (Università Roma Tre), Marzia Como (Croce Rossa Italiana), Carlotta Coccoli (Università degli Studi di Brescia); Corrado Del Bò (Università degli Studi di Bergamo), Elisabetta Fusar Poli (Università degli Studi di Brescia), Giulio Mirabella Roberti (Università degli Studi di Bergamo), Maria Paola Pasini (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore).

In particolare, la giornata del 3 novembre sarà l’occasione per approfondire il quadro della protezione dei beni culturali sia dal punto di vista storico e giuridico che attraverso il ruolo e l’esperienza degli enti che, concretamente, concorrono a metterla in atto.

Dopo l’introduzione sul Diritto Internazionale Umanitario di cui la protezione dei beni culturali è parte integrante (a cura di Costanza Arcuri, Croce Rossa Italiana – Comitato di Bergamo Hinterland), seguirà l’approfondimento di Michele Romeo Jasinski (Focal point campagna nazionale “Il futuro ha una lunga storia. Proteggiamola”) sul ruolo di Croce Rossa oggi.

Carlotta Coccoli (Università degli Studi di Brescia) tratterà invece l’argomento in una prospettiva storica, affrontando il tema del “pronto soccorso” di monumenti, biblioteche e musei danneggiati nel corso della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.

Seguiranno una serie di interventi relativi alle competenze e alle funzioni svolte da diversi enti coinvolti nella protezione dei beni culturali: il ruolo delle Soprintendenze, della Protezione civile (Elsa Boemi, Scuola Superiore di Protezione Civile di Regione Lombardia), dei Vigili del Fuoco, e dell’Arma dei Carabinieri.

  Gli interventi permetteranno di definire il quadro complessivo della protezione dei beni culturali in situazioni di rischio, di mettere a fattor comune le esperienze, e di evidenziare criticità e nuovi spazi di collaborazione.

L’ultima parte del convegno sarà dedicata alla tutela giuridica internazionale tra pace e cultura con Elisabetta Fusar Poli (Università degli Studi di Brescia).

Le conclusioni saranno affidate ai presidenti dei comitati bergamasco e bresciano di Croce Rossa Italiana, Maurizio Bonomi e Carolina David.

Al termine del convegno, i partecipanti saranno invitati a prender parte alla cerimonia di svelamento dello Scudo Blu, simbolo internazionale di protezione dei beni culturali dai rischi dei conflitti armati, all’Ex Monastero di Sant’Agostino, sede dell’Università degli Studi di Bergamo. L’apposizione dello Scudo Blu è una delle azioni concrete e proattive individuate dalla convenzione dell’Aja del 1954 per la protezione dei beni culturali dai rischi dei conflitti armati, oggetto del convegno del mattino.

Nel pomeriggio, è previsto il workshop teorico e pratico "La fotografia dei beni culturali", con i coach di Canon Italia, partner culturale del progetto “Uno Scudo per la cultura”. Partendo dal presupposto che, specie grazie all’uso degli smartphone, la fotografia può oggi essere considerata un capillare strumento per veicolare la conoscenza dei beni culturali, il workshop avrà un approccio didattico e didascalico e sarà l’occasione per imparare tecniche di base e curiosità per la resa ottimale dell’immagine dei monumenti. Saranno invitati al workshop i partecipanti al convegno, oltre che appassionati di fotografia ed operatori dei beni culturali che vorranno seguire l’iniziativa (fino ad esaurimento posti).

Programma

19 December 1979

David Meadows identified this 300 BCE Thracian round Silver Plaque is purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston and is given Object Number: 1979.620

The provenance is listed as:

1979, sold by Michael L. Ward (dealer), Brooklyn Heights, NY to the MFA. 

19 December 1979

David Meadows identified this 300 BCE Thracian round Silver Plaque is purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston and is given Object Number: 1979.621

The provenance is listed as:

1979, sold by Michael L. Ward (dealer), Brooklyn Heights, NY to the MFA. 

1981

This c. 1600 CE Corpus for Crucifix from the studio of Antonio Susini, after Giambologna is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: y1981.42

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York; purchase by Henry Berg; 1981 gift to Princeton University Art Museum.

                                                                         

 

1986 

Michael Ward sells a silver applique head of a satyr, a half-human companion of Dionysos to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1986 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AM.157.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1986 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1987

Dr. David Gill identified this ca. 200–150 BCE South Italian, Campanian Fragment of a lamp-filler in the form of a comic actor's mask sold by Michael Ward to the Princeton University Art Museum and given Object Number: y1987-69

No provenance details prior to Michael Ward are listed for this artefact within the Princeton University Art Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1987
Michael Ward sells a silver 4th century BCE Oinochoe to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1987 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AM.89.2.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1987
Michael Ward sells a silver 4th century BCE Ladle to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1987 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AM.89.3.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1987
Michael Ward sells a silver 4th century BCE strainer to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1987 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AM.89.4.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1987
Michael Ward sells a 150-250 CE Roman Statuette of the Lar/Genius of Aurelius Valerius and Base to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1987 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AB.200.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1987

Michael Ward sells a 3rd century CE Roman gold with amethyst necklace to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1987 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AM.208.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1988

Michael Ward sells a 480 to 460 BCE Statuette of a Satyr to the J. Paul Getty Museum which is given Object Number: 88.AB.72

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1988 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object.

1989

Dr. David Gill identified this 5th century bronze Steelyard Weight sold to the Walters Art Museum and given Object Number: y1987-69

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York, ca. 1977, by purchase; L. Alexander Wolfe, Jerusalem [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Sale, Frank Sternberg, Zurich, November 20, 1989, no. 423; Walters Art Museum, 1989, by purchase.

1989

This 5th century BCE Greco-Persian Intaglio seal with Artemis and deer, is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum from Michael Ward and is given Object Number: y1989-72

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York

1989

This 5th century BCE Greek plain black Attic Mastos cup, is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum from Michael Ward and is given Object Number: y1989-72

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York

1989

Dr. David Gill identified this 1st century BCE –1st century CE Lead-glazed cup with relief decoration purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum and given Object Number: y1989-73

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York

1989

This Late 2nd century CE Roman, British or Gallo-Belgic Parisian ware beaker is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: y1989-74

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York

1989

This 2nd century CE Roman Balsamarium in the form of three conjoined heads is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: y1989-75

The provenance is listed as:

Said to have been found in Sirmium, Yugoslavia; Purchased from Michael Ward, New York.

1989

Michael Ward sells a Greek bronze 500 BCE Handle of a Vessel to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1989 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AC.79.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1989 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1989

Michael Ward sells a Greek-South Italian bronze 550 BCE Side Handle of a Hydria previously with Mathias Komor to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1989 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AC.107.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1989 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1990

Michael Ward sells three Greek 550–525 BCE bronze statuettes of Banqueters to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1990 which are later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given Object Number: 96.AC.77.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1990 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1990
Michael Ward sells a Greek 550 BCE bronze Statuette of a Rider to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1990 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 and given  Object Number: 96.AB.45.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1987 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1991

Michael Ward sold a late 4th-3rd Century BCE Gold Olive Wreath to the Michael C Carlos Museum.  Object Number 1991.014

The provenance is listed as:
Ex private collection, Europe, assembled prior to early 1980s. European art market. Ex private collection, London, England, from ca. 1984-1985. Purchased by Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

1992

Michael Ward sells a 325 BCE Greek Side Panel of a Grave Naiskos with the Relief of a Young Hunter to Lawrence and Barbara Fleischman in 1992 which is later donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1996 Object Number: 96.AA.248.

No provenance history, prior to the Michael Ward 1992 sale, is listed for this artefact within the Getty Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1992

Michael Ward contacts the Greek Culture Ministry and shares photographs and measurements of a grouping of golden Mycenaean jewellery from the 15th century BCE, hereinafter referred to as the Aidonia Treasure, which he was considering before purchase in Early 1992.  When placed on the market a length battle begins when it is determined that these pieces were plundered in 1978 from a Mycenaean cemetery at Aidonia, near Nemea, in southern Greece.  The parties eventually settle out of court.

The objects include necklaces with lilies, large cusped rosettes from a belt, decorated gold rings, sealstones, beads, and other stylized jewellery and ornaments totalling about 50 pieces

1992

This late 2nd century CE Roman Bronze Balsamarium in the form of a hunchback, adapted for use as a steelyard weight, is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum from Michael Ward and is given Object Number: y1992-6

The provenance is listed as:

Purchased from Michael Ward, New York, in 1992.

1992

This 712-305 Bronze Egyptian Woman with Barrel-Shaped Drum is gifted by Michael Ward to the Brooklyn Museum and is given Object Number: 1992.169

No provenance details are listed for this artefact within the Brooklyn Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

1993

Dr. David Gill identified this c. 1500 BCE Large Romania, possibly Cirna, Middle Bronze Age earthenware Bowl, donated by Michael Ward in honour of Evan H. Turner to the Cleveland Museum of Art.  Accession No. 1993.229 

No provenance details are listed for this artefact within the Clevelend Museum of Art's digital accession record for this object. 

1993
Michael Ward donates a Greek Corinthian mid 6th century BCE Couchant lion to the Princeton University Art Museum. 
Object No: y1993-42

No provenance details are listed for this artefact within the Princeton University Art Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

Mid to Late 1990s

Archaeologist David Gill points our that there are four Lots handled in the Mid to Late 1990s by Ward & Company Works of Art which were on auction as part of the "The Stanford Place Collection of Antiquities" auction at Christie's (London) on Wednesday April 26, 2006.  They are: 

Lot 3: 'a Greek silver-gilt repoussé plaque'. 'circa 540-525 BCE'. 'With winged Nike in a frontal chariot with facing quadriga, each pair of horses with heads turned to opposing sides, with finely incised details, bound lotus filling motifs, pierced around the edge for attachment, from an arm-guard'. 6.8 cm high. Unsold.

Lot 5: 'a Greek bronze goat'. 'circa 5405 BCE'. 'From a vessel lid or rim, the goat recumbent with head turned to the right, with short pointed beard and upturned tail, finely incised details, the underside with lead infill, horns partially missing'. 7.6 cm high. Sold for 9,000 GBP.

Lot 14: 'A Geometric Greek Bronze Seated Male Figure'. 'circa 750-700 BCE'. 'Seated on a stool with elbows resting on his knees and left hand to chin, with long instrument in right hand, finely detailed with striated fringe of hair at back of head and eyes rendered with depressed circles, on integral square seal base with four triangular divisions on underside, on wood mount'. 63 cm high. Sold for 28,800 GBP.

Lot 18: 'Three Laconian bronze helmeted warriors'. '6th century BCE'. 'Each animated nude standing figure standing with right arm outstretched to the side and left arm raised, with fists clenched, wearing tall crested helmet'. 6.4 cm high (max). Sold for 30,000 GBP.

1995  

Betsy Alley identified this 2nd century Roman Empire Lynx Head gifted to Cornell University in 1994 and given Accession No. 95.030

1996

1996

David Meadows identified a pair of late 2nd–early 3rd century CE Roman earrings at the Dallas Museum of Art purchased via a museum credit line along with a gift of Stark and Michael Ward in honor of Virginia Nick and Anne Bromberg.  The pair are given Object Numbers: 1996.35.A-B

There is no provenance listed for this jewellery grouping. 

1997

Dr. David Gill identified this 2nd–1st century BCE Hellenistic Red Slip Bowl gifted by Lawrence A. and Barbara Fleischman in honour of Michael Padgett to the Princeton University Art Museum and given Object Number: 1997-1

The provenance is listed as:

Owned by a succession of dealers (C. Ede, H. Humbel, B. Aitken, M. Ward) before acquired by Fleischman; given to the Museum in 1997

1997

This early Byzantine vertical dial was purchased by the British Museum from Ward & Company Works of Art and assigned the Object No: 1997,0303.1

The provenance is listed as: 

Previous owner/ex-collection: Kummer

 

October 1997
Michael Ward reports in the New York Times that he nearly sold out his booth to new customers, American and European at the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show.  Three of the objects mentioned at his booth are a mosaic sold to a museum, a fifth-century BCE Greek marble grave stele for $650,000 that depicts a man walking with a staff, and a $125,000 circa 800 BCE Egyptian bronze of Osiris. 

1998

This 8-9th century CE bronze finger Ring is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-336

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchase by John B. Elliott; bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 9-10th century CE Anglo Saxon bronze Applique in the form of a lion is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum from Michael Ward and is given Object Number: 1998-343

The provenance is listed as:

Michael Ward, New York; purchase by John B. Elliott; bequest to Princeton University Art Museum

1998

This 8-9th century CE Avar culture pair of Strap ends is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-360a and b

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchased by John B. Elliott; 1998 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 8-9th century CE Avar culture pair of Strap ends is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-361a and b

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchased by John B. Elliott; 1998 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 8-9th century CE Avar culture pair of Strap ends is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-362a and b

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchased by John B. Elliott; 1998 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 8-9th century CE Avar culture Strap end is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-363

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchased by John B. Elliott; 1998 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 8-9th century CE Avar culture Strap end is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-364

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchased by John B. Elliott; 1998 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 8-9th century CE Avar culture Strap end is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-365

The provenance is listed as:

Geber, Budapest. Michael Ward, NY; purchased by John B. Elliott; 1998 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.

1998

This 19-20th century CE brass Ekonda anklet is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-640

The provenance is listed as:

[Michael Ward, Inc., New York, NY]; John B. Elliott, New York, NY by 1989; Princeton University Art Museum, 1998

1998

This 12-17th century CE Djenné copper bracelet is gifted to the Princeton University Art Museum and is given Object Number: 1998-643

The provenance is listed as:

[Michael Ward, Inc., New York, NY]; John B. Elliott, New York, NY by 1989; Princeton University Art Museum, 1998

1999 through 2022
According to the Michael L. Ward Criminal Complaint, from 1999 through 2022, Eugene Alexander had a money laundering scheme in which he sold looted antiquities to European and American collectors.  

In an open source  6 September 2023 stipulation Michael Ward affirmed that he would plead guilty to Criminal Facilitation in the Fourth Degree (N.Y. Penal Law §115.00[1]), a class A misdemeanor, and as part of his plea agreement he voluntarily agreed to surrender (40) additional antiquities, or others that he or DANY identified in his possession that were sold, consigned, or previously possessed by Eugene Alexander; and that he will cooperate truthfully and fully with DANY and, if requested by DANY and with DANY's coordination, he will assist Italy and Germany in their investigation and prosecution of Eugene Alexander.

In return, the Manhattan authorities affirmed:

• they will not pursue any additional charges or arrests of Michael Ward for any crimes arising from his antiquities dealings or business transactions with Eugene Alexander;
• that Michael Ward will not be prosecuted in Italy for any crimes arising from his antiquities dealings or business transactions with Eugene Alexander; 
• that no evidence developed by DANY or provided by Michael Ward to DANY will be used for any prosecution in Germany or any other country; 
• and that, although Michael Ward's antiquities dealing and business transactions with Eugene Alexander will be described in any charging documents of Eugene Alexander, Michael Ward will not be named as a co-conspirator.

1999

Michael Ward sold a ca. 480-470 BCE Red-Figure Calyx Krater with Apollo and Artemis Offering Libations to the Michael C Carlos Museum.  Object Number 1999.011.002

The provenance is listed as:
Ex coll. Jonathan Kagan, New York, New York. Ex coll. Damon Mezzacappa (ca. 1936-2015), New York, New York. Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

1999
Michael Ward sells a 4th century BCE Votive Relief with Banquet Scene to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 1999.011.003

The provenance is listed as:
With Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York, from ca. 1996. Purchased by MCCM from Ward.

1999
Michael Ward sells a 1-2nd century CE Roman Statue of Mercury to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 1999.011.005

The provenance is listed as:
Ex coll. Tempelberg Foundation, Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

2000

Michael Ward sold a 440-430 BCE Chous with Maenad and Baby Satyr to the Michael C Carlos Museum.  Object Number 2000.001.001

The provenance is listed as:

With Galerie Blondeel-Deroyan, Paris, France, November 1999. Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

2000
Michael Ward sells a 6th century BCE Votive Statuette of an Enthroned Athena to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2000.006.003.

The provenance is listed as:

Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

2000

Michael Ward sells one diadem, two 1200 - 800 CCE Bronze brooches with Spirals,  and one axe blade pendant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Accession Number: 2000.281.1 lists the provenance as:
Ward & Company Works of Art (American), New York (sold 2000)

Accession Number: 2000.281.2 lists the provenance as:

Charles Ede Limited Antiquities, London (1999)]; [ Ward & Company Works of Art (American), New York (sold 2000).

Accession Number: 2000.281.3  lists the provenance as:
Ward & Company Works of Art (American), New York (sold 1989)

Accession Number: 2000.281.4  lists the provenance as:
Ward & Company Works of Art (American), New York (sold 2000)

1 January 2000
The Art Newspaper published an ancient art market survey with dealers responses to the question of how many clients do you have who spend more than $50,000 per artefact.

Michael Ward replied that he has seen his client base in this price range and higher as doubling in number over the past five years. He counts forty clients in this price bracket.

2001

Michael Ward gifts an 8th century BCE Bird Pendant to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2001.029.002.

The provenance is listed as: 

With Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York, from at least August 1997.

2001
Michael Ward gifts a 7th Century BCE Male Orant to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2001.029.001.

The provenance is listed as:

With Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York, from at least May 1999.

2002

This 530 BCE Greek Hoof, possibly from a centaur statuette is gifted by Michael Ward to the Princeton University Art Museum from Michael Ward and is given Object Number: 2002.283

No provenance details are listed for this artefact within the Princeton University Art Museum's digital accession record for this object. 

2002

This 7th century BCE Greek Double-sided seal with centaur and two men is purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum from Michael Ward and is given Object Number: 2002.284

The provenance is listed as:

Purchased from Michael Ward, NY, in 2002.

2002
Dietrich von Bothmer gifts a 480 BCE Red-Figure Amphora Neck Fragment with a Fight to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2002.043.026.

The provenance is listed as:

With Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York, from at least May 1999.

2003

Michael Ward sells a 350 to 325 BCE Seated Figure From a Grave Naiskos to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2003.005.001

The provenance is listed as: 

With Gianfranco Becchina, Basel Switzerland. Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Fine Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

2003

Michael Ward gifts a 3200-2700 BCE early Cycladic Faceted Core to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2003.025.001

The provenance is listed as: 

Ex coll. K.John Hewett (1919-1994), England. Ex coll. Peter Sharrer, New Jersey, acquired from Hewett, London, England, by 1989. Loaned to San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas (L.89.1.15). Gifted to MCCM by Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc.], New York, New York.

10 December 2004
A late first century BCE Roman parcel gilt silver Skyphos decorated with a Nilotic scene, some areas raised in relief, with one side centered by a grotesque man teasing a crocodile is consigned to Christie's and sells for $623,500. 

The provenance is listed as:
London Art Market, mid 1990s.
with Ward & Company Works of Art, New York, 2000.

2005
Michael and Stark Ward gift a Greek 6th Century BCE bronze Bronze handle of a patera (shallow basin) in the form of a youth to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accession Number: 2005.457.

No provenance details are listed for this artefact within the Metropolitan Museum of Art's digital accession record for this object. 

2005

Dr. David Gill identified this mid–4th century BCE Black-glazed calyx-cup gifted to  the Princeton University Art Museum and given Object Number: 2005-113

The provenance is listed as:

Acquired by Andrés Mata at Christie's, New York, December 10, 2004, lot 485. The consignor was Ward & Company, New York, which had acquired it from James Ede, London, who in turn had purchased it from Michael Petropoulos, Zürich, on November 13, 1999; given to the Museum in 2005

2005

Michael Ward sells a 1st century CE Roman Head of Nike to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2005.083.001

The provenance is listed as:

Ex coll. Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, LLC], New York, New York, purchased July 1999.

2005 

According to the Michael Steinhardt Statement of Facts document, Michael Ward sold a red-figure calyx krater, dated to the fourth century BCE to the Dallas Museum of Art stating that the vase had come from a “Swiss private collection”—the vase had actually been looted by Becchina and smuggled to Becchina’s gallery in Basel.

2007

Michael Ward sells a 2305-2152 BCE Egyptian Relief of a Funerary Ceremony to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2007.009.001

The provenance is listed as: 

Ex coll. Dr. Henry R. Hope (1905-1989), United States, acquired 1950s. Thence by descent. Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, LLC], New York, New York.

By March 2010

The Krater of Koreshnica, photographed here on Flickr in 20016 was loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 2010 by an anonymous lender.  This artefact  is believed to have been looted on/around 1996 from a 6th century BCE Macedonian burial chamber near the village of Koreshnica, in the southern part of the Republic of Macedonia.   

By 14 February 2008 Dr. David Gill had already voiced concerns regarding the origins of this well-restored and very rare bronze krater and if former dealer smuggler Michel Van Rijn's statements hold water, looters first smuggled the antiquity into Switzerland, via Zurich, where Anton Tkalec, a Greek and Roman coin dealer (Sevso Silver), purchased the Macedonian national treasure for 350,000 German marks.  

Afterward, Tkalec, through Michael Ward, offered the crater to American mega-collectors Leon Levy and Shelby White for $6.5 million.

2012

The stolen Etruscan statuette of Hercules stolen from the Oliveriano Archaeological Museum in Pesaro is identified by experts in Italy when the object comes up for sale with Ward & Company.  It was restituted to Italy on 24 February 2015 during a ceremony in the federal prosecutor's office in Manhattan.

17 December 2013
According to the Edoardo Almagià sentencing document, the convicted dealer sold Michael Ward the following artefacts:

a. A black figure kylix;

b. A marble lion mask;

c. A  marble sculpture depicting a draped woman; 

d. A terracotta mask;

e. A torso of Aphrodite;

f. A romanesque capital;

g. A cameo female bust in marble;

h. A Roman marble urn;

i. A python crater from  Paestum  + 2 bronze vases;

j. A black figure olpe and marble torso;

k. 2 Attic craters, a hydria and abell crater.

Between 2015 and 2019
Michael Ward obtained more than 100 antiquities from Eugene Alexander between 2015 and 2019, 80 of which, according to the Michael L. Ward indictment, were clearly looted.

2016

Dr. David Gill identified this silver and gold late 5th – early 4th century BCE Greek Phiale with Thetis and the Armour of Achilles in a Phoenix Ancient Art 2016 catalogue for Spring Masters NYC. NB: Most gold-figured silver vessels have been found in Macedonian and Thracian tombs.

The provenance is listed as:

Ex- European private collection, early 1980s; Ward and Co., New York, USA, 1990 or prior; Ex- US pri- vate collection, New York, acquired in 1990.

2016

Michael Ward sells a 480 BCE Red-Figure Pelike with Two Youths in Conversation to the Michael C Carlos Museum. Object Number 2015.005.001

The provenance is listed as:

Ex coll. Vicomte du Dresnay, France, acquired before 1970. Purchased by MCCM from Michael Ward [Ward & Company, Works of Art, LLC], New York, New York.

10 November 2022

Four 4th Century B.C.Thracian Gilt-Silver Double Eagle Plaques are auctioned at Hindman in Chicago.  The artefacts sold for just $500.

The provenance is listed as: Michael Ward Gallery, New York, prior to 1992. Lewis B. Cullman, acquired from the above in 1992.

18 October 2023

And with just 4 days until bidding opens on Sotheby's online sale of The Edith & Stuart Cary Welch Collection, I will finish my round-up with this late 5th/ early 6th century Byzantine spoon, again with only Ward and Co provenance.  

 So as ARCA always says with problematic dealers, Buyers Beware. 

By: Lynda Albertson