Success stories
September 2004
U.S. Returns Stolen Mexican Altarpiece
Three years after it was stolen from a Mexican convent in Tochimilco, the U.S. ambassador formally returned a 300-year-old gilded wooden altarpiece to Mexico. Thieves had tried to sell in the United States at a Santa Fe, N.M., art gallery for $255,000.
The altarpiece measures about 4 feet by 6 feet and depicts St. Francis receiving stigmas after having a vision of Jesus Christ. It was found on display at a Santa Fe gallery in April and seized as stolen goods. The altarpiece is believed to have been carved between 1675 and the early 1700s. Mexican law prohibits the export of almost all such artworks from the 1521-1821 colonial period.
Associated Press, September 28, 2004
Carabinieri recover Sumerian artifacts
Fragments of cuneiform tablets, vases, coins, bracelets have been found by the Multinational specialized unit (Msu) of the Carabinieri along with Iraqi police. The material seized has been catalogued by experts and will be given over to the superintendent of culture Dhi Qar to be sent to Baghdad's national museum. The Msu has mapped out 120 archaeological sites in Iraq.
(AGI), Rome, 28 September
Three arrested for selling rare Tibetan manuscript
Reportedly stolen from a Buddhist monastery at Kalimpong in West Bengal, the manuscript weighs 42 kg and has 305 pages. It is written on Tibetan black polished paper and was originally written in Sanskrit but subsequently translated into Tibetan by Thumi Sambhota. The three men arrested are alleged to be members of a Bhagalpur-based gang involved in selling antique items with links to several gangs that are active in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and other parts of the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation in West Bengal said.
Indo-Asian News Service, September 2, 2004
DAS seizes a huge shipment of archeological pieces
DAS seizes a huge shipment of archeological pieces in the north of Bogotá
Almost two thousand illegally excavated antiquities were seized from from the Harvey Gene Aronson, owner of the pre-Columbian indigenous art gallery Clavia. These artifacts, dating from 200 BC belong to Muisca, Quimbaya, Quillacinga, Nariño, Tumaco, Tumbaga and San Agustin cultures.
This operative was carried out in conjunction with experts from the Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia ICANH.
DAS, September 2, 2004
August 2004
Stolen relic from temple is returning to Egypt
A stolen Egyptian relief from 380-280 B.C. spotted in a Christie's auction house catalog is to return to Cairo.
The granite relief, valued at $5,000, was taken from the Temple of Behbeit el-Hagar in Gharbia in 1990, the government said.
It was featured on Christie's Web site to be auctioned on June 12, 2002. The suggested bid for the relief, along with several other objects, was $7,000 to $9,000. Before the sale, the Egyptian government notified Christie's and Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the artifact had been looted sometime in 1990 from the temple site. Christie's withdrew the relief from the sale and has since voluntarily held it while the government investigated its provenance and made arrangements to seize it and send it back to Egypt.
Mahmoud Allam, Egypt's consul general in New York, said yesterday: "This particular piece represents an example of international cooperation in preserving the cultural heritage of nations. We are taking this back to Egypt where it belongs."
NY Times, August 20, 2004
Sudanese security recover priceless artifacts stolen last year from museum
Sudanese security officials have recovered 54 historical artifacts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and detained four people in an elaborate investigation following the theft of the pieces last year from the National Museum, Sudanese media reported Tuesday.
The stolen artifacts included 19 small statues from the ancient Nubian kingdoms, which ruled Sudan from 300 to 1600 A.D.; a funerary statue from the Meroe dynasty (second and third centuries B.C.); an ossified skull of a prehistoric human; plus many necklaces, small sculptures and razors, according to the official Sudan Media Center.
Many of the pieces, which were recovered last week, were insured at over US$10,000, museum director Hassan Hussein told the SMC.
Sudan Tribune, August 17, 2004
Iran voluntarily returns Kuwaiti artifacts
In a ceremony at Niavaran Palace, Tehran voluntarily extradited 399 Kuwaiti artifacts which were smuggled into Iran in 1999 after being stolen from Kuwaiti museums during the Iraqi invasion of the Arab Persian Gulf state in 1990.
"Iran and Kuwait both have been plundered by the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime..."
CHN, August 17, 2004
July 2004
Nearly 200 pre-Columbian artifacts from the Dominican Republic, some dating back to 2500 B.C., have been seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
The artifacts include arrowheads and stone carvings, some smaller than a fingernail. The artifacts were detained by customs agents in March to determine their authenticity and whether they were illegally imported into the country. The pieces were officially seized on June 17 after investigators found the artifacts did not have the proper documentation required to move them from the Dominican Republic.
Customs officers found 408 pieces in the collection that arrived at Miami International Airport, but archaeologist Elpidio Jose Ortega determined that only 194 of the pieces were original and indigenous to the Dominican Republic's Indian cultures.
The Ledger, July 24, 2004
We thank the Museum Security Network Mailinglist and Cultural Property Protection Net Mailinglist for their work.