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Showing posts sorted by date for query Steinhardt. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Steinhardt. Sort by relevance Show all posts

November 1, 2024

Friday, November 01, 2024 - ,, No comments

Edoardo Almagià Wanted: Manhattan DA Seeks Arrest of Dealer in Major Antiquities Smuggling Case

Just over a year ago, ARCA published a post highlighting suspect artefacts which passed through Michael L. Ward's variously named galleries which were worth further exploration.

In that blog post, it was noted that, according to Edoardo Almagià's Italian sentencing document, the convicted Italian 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.

Almagià, a Princeton-educated antiquities dealer, was born in New York to prominent Jewish Italian immigrant parents.  Once a high-profile dealer, between 1980 and 2006 he conducted lucrative sales to numerous museums and collectors, mingling with fallen-from-grace art-world elites like Marion True, Dietrich von Bothmer, and Michael Padgett.

Triade Capitolina on display at the Palazzo del Quirinale

1992

Almagià first became a person of interest in 1992 during Italian investigations. Facing charges for his own crimes, notorious capozona Pietro Casasanta revealed to interrogators that he had shopped the freshly looted Triade Capitolina to Almagià for his U.S. clients.  Casasanta told Carabinieri officers that he had sent the dealer a Polaroid of the recently excavated sculpture which depicts the tutelary deities of Rome—Jupiter, flanked by an eagle, Juno, and Minerva in a Corinthian helmet—shortly after it was unearthed in Guidonia Montecelio, near Rome. 

Almagià reportedly offered to pay Casasanta a meagre $20,000 for the multi-million-dollar statue, and after a bit of drama between the pair, Casasanta declined on the offer and sold hislooted marble sculpture to the owner of Atelier Amphora, Mario Bruno, another suspect intermediary dealer operating in Lugano, who also had zero compunction about buying suspect art and selling it onward. 

1996

By 1996, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) had seized two dozen Etruscan ceramics from the New York Upper East Side gallery of Renee and Robin Beningson which had ties to Edoardo Almagià.  According to that investigation, all 24 artefacts at New York's Antiquarium Ltd., had been looted from what is now known as the Parco Archeologico di Crustumerium. This site represents an ancient city which once overlooked the Tiber between Eretum and Fidenae north of Rome.   

Later evidence would determine that following the seasonal closure of an authorised excavation at Crustumerium in July 1987,  Almagià had hired tombaroli—professional looters—to pick up where the departing archaeologists had left off. 

The dealer is then alleged to have had the goods, extracted by the looters, smuggled out of Italy, passing first through Switzerland, before ultimately travelling overseas to New York where they came into the control of the Beningsons.

2000

Almagià’s next brush with the law came when he was stopped at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International airport in Queens, New York in 2000 with two stolen Italian frescoes from the ancient city of Vulci that he had falsely declared.  

Six weeks later, one of his commercial shipments was also stopped in Newark, New Jersey.  That shipment contained five stolen Italian antiquities and was again accompanied by false documentation. 

2006

By 2006, Almagià’s high life as a prestigious dealer cracked completely when, in April 2006, Special Agents with the US Department of Homeland Security, with intel assistance from officers with Italy's Carabinieri, obtained the legal authorisation to enter and photograph the contents of the dealer's New York apartment on 169 East 78th Street, as well as his rental storage space at Manhattan Mini-Storage, located at 420 E 62nd Street in New York.  There, officers documented dozens of antiquities and stacks of business records which coldly outlined the extreme excesses of this dealer's trafficking operations.   

Like Giacomo Medici's and Gianfranco Becchina's earlier archives, the "Almagià Archive" recovered in this law enforcement operation includes sales transaction ledgers, written in the dealer's handwriting, referred to by officers as the "Green Book" and the "Yellow Book" encompassing transactions  in 1997 and 1998.

In the "Green Book" Almagià listed, in concrete details, a total of 1,698 artefacts which he had sold out of his New York apartment. To do so, he often grouped artefacts by the tombarolo from whom he had purchased the material (identifying the supplying tombarolo by his nickname or initials).  Some entries listed in these ledgers designated both the price Almagià paid to his source, as well as the price he subsequently sold the artefact for.  On occasion, some entries even list to whom the looted artefact was sold onward to.

For example, one entry for an "Attic red fig. Lekythos w panther" shows that Almagià bought the object for $1,000 from "Mau," whom researchers identified as the tombarolo Mauro Morani).  He then asold the vessel onward to "antiq", the abbreviation for the previously mentioned New York gallery, Antiquarium, operated by Renee and Robin Beningson for $2,000.  

The extant pages of the "Yellow Book" document an additional 84 stolen antiquities or groups of stolen antiquities known to have been trafficked by Almagià  and/or his cousin Peter Cesare Glidewell who operates a gallery space registered in the UK and operating in Spain known as Caylus Fine Art Limited.  The level of detail in both of these ledgers ultimately created a strikingly clear blue print, which, along with seized Day Planners, invoices, and lists, has given authorities a clear map to follow which has proven critical to this complex and lengthy investigation, and to tracing where each of the suspect artefacts handled by Almagià went after he cashed in. 

Through the initial work on this US investigation, seven antiquities were quickly identified as having been looted from Italy.  But while the review was still under way, Almagià used the intervening time to shift more suspect objects and their documentation from his apartment and storage facility into a shipping container which was then placed on a ship bound for Naples.  Afterward, he fled the country.

When the ship was intercepted at the port of Naples on December 14, 2006, Italian authorities recovered 37 paintings and numerous archaeological objects as well as thousands of documents and, the now tell tale Polaroid photographs used by traffickers during this time period.   

Immediately after the 2006 seizure in Naples,  Italian prosecutor Paolo Giorgio Ferri brought charges against the dealer, Princeton University Art Museum’s then-curator Michael Padgett and Mauro Morani a tomb raider and caposquadra who provided Almagià with first dibs on looted antiquities, for knowingly committing crimes against the cultural heritage of Italy.

Acquittal, Seizures, and Restitutions

Unfortunately, Almagià's criminal case in Italy was dismissed in 2012due to the statute of limitations, though the Italian courts upheld the confiscation of all relics previously in his possession.  IN making that ruling the presiding judge stated that his activities contributed to "one of the greatest sacks of Italian cultural heritage based on the sheer amount of stolen goods."

In connection with the U.S. side of the investigation, New York’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has diligently worked to identify over 2,000 stolen antiquities trafficked by Almagià.  To date they have recovered 221 of them, worth an estimated  $6 million. 

Of these, 150 objects were seized as part of the Michael Steinhardt investigation, with the New York billionaire having purchased a total of ten known and restituted items from the Italian. 

Arrest Warrant

Yesterday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office obtained an arrest warrant for Edoardo Almagià based upon three charges:

  1. Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree under Penal Law § 105.10(1)
  2. Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree under Penal Law § 190.65(1)(b)
  3. Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree under Penal Law § 165.50

This arrest warrant, totaling 80 pages, details the grave extent of this trafficking network and ultimately the harm he caused to Italy’s cultural heritage. As New York authorities await their day in court with this trafficker, the hope remains that dealers, collectors, and museums, with outstanding pieces purchased via this dealer or their subsequent handlers, will come forward and disclose the remaining pieces which are tied to Almagià.

October 14, 2023

Saturday, October 14, 2023 - ,,,,,,,,,, 1 comment

Exploring Michael Ward and some peppered-about, possibly-problematic, pieces which might have provenance problems

While there are numerous artefacts which passed through Michael L. Ward's variously named galleries which may be worth further exploration,  here is a growing list of classical world artefacts ARCA has documented (so far) as perhaps needing a closer review by their various holders.   There may be others, and we will add what we find to this posting but these are the art and artefacts we have documented so far with readily available digital footprints.  
Some have been restituted. Others, identified at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Johnson Museum of Art, at Cornell University, the Museum of Fine Art's - Boston, the Princeton University Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Walters Art Museum and the British Museum should probably be given a closer inspection and provenance review. 

Note that this dealer also sold African and Tribal Art which is not documented within this first round-up. 

7 January 1964
A gang of thieves, break into the Museo archeologico Oliveriano di Pesaro and make off with multiple objects, one of which is this Etruscan statuette of Hercules from the 6th to the 5th century BCE. 

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. 

1987
Michael Ward sells a silver 4th century BCE Greek Bowl 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.89.1.

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

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

The provenance is listed as:
Michael L. Ward, Inc., New York, NY; before 1994, David B. Simpson; 1995, collect(…)
     
1996
Dr. David Gill identified this c. 1200 CE Cauldron Ornament donated by Michael Ward in honour of Arielle P. Kozloff  to the Cleveland Museum of Art.  Accession No. 1996.312 

There is no provenance listed for this artefact. 

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
 
1997
The Judy and Michael Steinhardt Foundation donates a 12th century Byzantine Disk, possibly a pilgrimage token to the Princeton University Art Museum. Object No: 1997-34

The provenance is listed as: 
Museum purchase in 1997 from Ward & Company, Works of Art, Inc., gift of the Judy and Michael Steinhardt Foundation

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.   



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


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