Egypt
Certainly the battle of Egypt's authorities to retrieve artifacts that have gone abroad over the last 200 years is in full swing though the bust of Nefertiti is the star of this cause there are still many more questionable important artifacts. I have not included those monuments taken to Rome in Imperial times.
Perhaps the most blatant provenance of theft is the 19th dynasty book of the dead of Ani that Wallace Budge went way overboard in its acquisition. Including detention by authorities, removal of the book of the dead at the time accompanied by an 18th dynasty book of the dead and a 20th dynasty book of the dead all were re acquired and sent in ambassadorial baggage to London before the Egyptian authorities could stop them from leaving. All three books were secured for and are in the British museum.
Before purchasing the 19th dynasty mask of Ka Nefer Nefer for a half a million dollars from Phoenix ancient art gallery in 1998 it appears that the St. Louis art museum had received the okay from officials at the Cairo museum. The records now show however that the mask was more than likely stolen from Zakaria Goneim's excavation material at Saqqara in the 1950's. The mask may well be stolen but the institution appears to have acted in good faith before purchase.
The (DOG) excavations of Tell el Amarna 1912 brought forth approximately three dozen plaster masks which appear to be casts of the Amarna royal family and its elite courtiers. The masks are part of the controversial division of finds which include the limestone bust of Nefertiti and currently among the collection of Berlin's Neues museum. As the case goes for the bust of Nefertiti the case for Berlin's ownership of the plaster masks is very connected along with all of the finds presented at the 1913 division of finds in Egypt.
While Norbert Schimmel donated 25 wonderful sculpted blocks known as talatats to the Metropolitan museum of art. Unfortunately earlier last century a storage area in Egypt where hundreds of talatats were stored had been broken into with many of the finest stolen. Whether these talatats are the stolen ones remains to my knowledge unproven though the suspicion hangs over them and many are no longer on display.
The wonderful whip handle of a horse is yet another example, the whip came into the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art in 1926. Thomas Hoving suggested in his best seller "Tutankhamun the untold story" that this horse along with a number of other exquisite "pocket pieces" in the Met and Brooklyn museums were potentially smuggled out of the Tomb of Tutankhamun as were gold and silver nails from that kings coffins.
Still other objects such as a cosmetic vessel in the shape of a cat 1990.59.1 in the Metropolitan has no known history of improper acquisition, at least to this author, but coming from a gallery in Zurich in 1990 it is left up to question how such an important piece arrived on the market and the simple answer given by sellers, museums and their directors may no longer be acceptable to an ever more sophisticated public who may demand more detailed explanations be easily available to the public.
The reliance on international law is more than likely a flawed measure to curb acquisitions of objects the answer must instead be clear with truth and depth in the display of an objects record of acquisition. It is the public who must in the end be offended by questionable artifacts who offer only the most shallow of provenances.
- The Continuing Story Of Ka-nefer-nefer
The story of the mask called Ka-nefer-nefer in the St. Louis Art Museum appears to be turning on St. Louis in favour of Cairo as the mask clearly is the same mask excavated and shown in excavation photo's of the early 1950's. Lawyers for the museum...
- Artifacts From The (dog) Excavations Of Tell El Amarna
The 1912-1913 excavations on behalf of the German Oriental Society (DOG) at tell el Amarna brought to light a large collection of plaster masks and royal stone sculptures. The artist studio in which the sculpture were found was that of royal sculptor...
- The Ten Most Important Egyptian Objects Outside Egypt
This is a list of the most important Egyptian artifacts not the property of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Though there are certainly more contenders for the list including perhaps the gold headdress of a wife of Thutmosis III in...
- Holes In Egypt's National Collection
Here we go again with another attempt by Dr. Zahi Hawass to have the Rosetta stone, the bust of an unknown Amarna queen in Berlin and other artifacts to be returned to Egypt. Greece and Italy are up to the same thing with their own desire to re acquire...
- A Wonderful Collection
Though this article is on a show of art in general from the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art I put it here because it talks about the Norbert Schimmel collection of Amarna period talatats. Schimmel acquired dozens of these wonderful...
Egypt
Truth on Display
Certainly the battle of Egypt's authorities to retrieve artifacts that have gone abroad over the last 200 years is in full swing though the bust of Nefertiti is the star of this cause there are still many more questionable important artifacts. I have not included those monuments taken to Rome in Imperial times.
Perhaps the most blatant provenance of theft is the 19th dynasty book of the dead of Ani that Wallace Budge went way overboard in its acquisition. Including detention by authorities, removal of the book of the dead at the time accompanied by an 18th dynasty book of the dead and a 20th dynasty book of the dead all were re acquired and sent in ambassadorial baggage to London before the Egyptian authorities could stop them from leaving. All three books were secured for and are in the British museum.
Before purchasing the 19th dynasty mask of Ka Nefer Nefer for a half a million dollars from Phoenix ancient art gallery in 1998 it appears that the St. Louis art museum had received the okay from officials at the Cairo museum. The records now show however that the mask was more than likely stolen from Zakaria Goneim's excavation material at Saqqara in the 1950's. The mask may well be stolen but the institution appears to have acted in good faith before purchase.
The (DOG) excavations of Tell el Amarna 1912 brought forth approximately three dozen plaster masks which appear to be casts of the Amarna royal family and its elite courtiers. The masks are part of the controversial division of finds which include the limestone bust of Nefertiti and currently among the collection of Berlin's Neues museum. As the case goes for the bust of Nefertiti the case for Berlin's ownership of the plaster masks is very connected along with all of the finds presented at the 1913 division of finds in Egypt.
While Norbert Schimmel donated 25 wonderful sculpted blocks known as talatats to the Metropolitan museum of art. Unfortunately earlier last century a storage area in Egypt where hundreds of talatats were stored had been broken into with many of the finest stolen. Whether these talatats are the stolen ones remains to my knowledge unproven though the suspicion hangs over them and many are no longer on display.
The wonderful whip handle of a horse is yet another example, the whip came into the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art in 1926. Thomas Hoving suggested in his best seller "Tutankhamun the untold story" that this horse along with a number of other exquisite "pocket pieces" in the Met and Brooklyn museums were potentially smuggled out of the Tomb of Tutankhamun as were gold and silver nails from that kings coffins.
Still other objects such as a cosmetic vessel in the shape of a cat 1990.59.1 in the Metropolitan has no known history of improper acquisition, at least to this author, but coming from a gallery in Zurich in 1990 it is left up to question how such an important piece arrived on the market and the simple answer given by sellers, museums and their directors may no longer be acceptable to an ever more sophisticated public who may demand more detailed explanations be easily available to the public.
The reliance on international law is more than likely a flawed measure to curb acquisitions of objects the answer must instead be clear with truth and depth in the display of an objects record of acquisition. It is the public who must in the end be offended by questionable artifacts who offer only the most shallow of provenances.
- The Continuing Story Of Ka-nefer-nefer
The story of the mask called Ka-nefer-nefer in the St. Louis Art Museum appears to be turning on St. Louis in favour of Cairo as the mask clearly is the same mask excavated and shown in excavation photo's of the early 1950's. Lawyers for the museum...
- Artifacts From The (dog) Excavations Of Tell El Amarna
The 1912-1913 excavations on behalf of the German Oriental Society (DOG) at tell el Amarna brought to light a large collection of plaster masks and royal stone sculptures. The artist studio in which the sculpture were found was that of royal sculptor...
- The Ten Most Important Egyptian Objects Outside Egypt
This is a list of the most important Egyptian artifacts not the property of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Though there are certainly more contenders for the list including perhaps the gold headdress of a wife of Thutmosis III in...
- Holes In Egypt's National Collection
Here we go again with another attempt by Dr. Zahi Hawass to have the Rosetta stone, the bust of an unknown Amarna queen in Berlin and other artifacts to be returned to Egypt. Greece and Italy are up to the same thing with their own desire to re acquire...
- A Wonderful Collection
Though this article is on a show of art in general from the collection of the Metropolitan museum of art I put it here because it talks about the Norbert Schimmel collection of Amarna period talatats. Schimmel acquired dozens of these wonderful...