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Feds: Subhash Kapoor “one of the most prolific commodities smugglers in the...
Federal authorities announced this week that they have seized an estimated $100 million worth of ancient art linked to Subhash Kapoor, the New York art dealer currently facing trial in India — and an...
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Inside Sotheby’s: Auction House Response Reveals Key Players in Fight Over...
Sotheby’s has responded to the U.S. government’s amended complaint in the legal battle for the Khmer warrior from Koh Ker, arguing that the US Attorney’s failure to cite a Cambodian national ownership...
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Douglas Latchford’s Footprints: Suspect Khmer Antiquities At the Denver Art...
Who is Douglas A. J. Latchford? That is the question many are asking since the Bangkok-based British collector who describes himself as an ”adventurer-scholar” emerged at the center of the legal fight...
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Latchford’s Footprints: Suspect Khmer Art at the Kimbell and the Met
We’re continuing to trace suspect Cambodian antiquities linked to Douglas Latchford, the man at the center of the on-going federal looting probe that we’ve detailed in previous posts here. Last week we...
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Chasing Aphrodite 2012: The Year in Review
Happy New Year from Chasing Aphrodite. It’s been a year and a half since our book was published, and during that time the hunt for looted antiquities at the world’s museums has gone global. Over the...
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The Getty’s Looted Amber: A Window into the Museum’s Deepening Dilemma
In Saturday’s Los Angeles Times, I have a story about Getty Museum’s efforts to find the true origins of its massive antiquities collection. Here’s how the story starts: In the wake of a scandal over...
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Decoding Eakin: Behind ‘Extortion’ Claim, Fear the Floodgates Have Opened
It is no coincidence that The Great Giveback, Hugh Eakin’s lengthy argument against the repatriation of looted antiquities, landed in The New York Times on Sunday, just as the directors of America’s...
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People Not Stones: Fighting Looting With Local Development
We generally focus here on the demand side of the illicit antiquities trade – the museums, auction houses, collectors and dealers who buy plundered antiquities, providing the economic fuel that keeps...
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Letter from Fargo: Punk, Archaeology and the DIY Ethic of Cultural Heritage
We recently heard about a gathering in Fargo, North Dakota that mixed beer, live punk music, spoken word, archaeology, the general public, and a do-it-yourself attitude for cultural heritage. Punk...
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The Danish Connection: Holding on to Loot at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotech of...
It is easy to forget that American museums were not the only ones caught in Italy’s investigation of the illicit antiquities trade. The Getty, the Met, the Boston MFA, the Cleveland Museum and...
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Red Flags in Paris: Half of Sotheby’s Barbier-Mueller Pre-Colombian Sale...
This week we have a guest post from M. Frechette, an astute college senior majoring in art history with an interest in international cultural property law and art markets. During her travels in Latin...
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Test Case: Peter Tompa on CPAC, the Supreme Court and the Trade in Ancient Coins
On Monday morning, the Supreme Court of the United States is expected to respond to a petition from the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild challenging federal import restrictions on ancient coins with...
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BREAKING: Judge rules in favor of Cambodia, Denies Sotheby’s Motion to...
A New York judge has denied Sotheby’s motion to dismiss Cambodia’s claim — brought on its behalf by the US government — that a 10th century Khmer statue was looted and should be returned. District...
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FBI: Ancient Coin Dealer Gantcho Zagorski Indicted on Federal Tax Charges
A federal grand jury indicted Gantcho Zagorski, a 59-year old U.S. dealer in ancient coins, on three counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false income tax returns, the FBI announced Tuesday....
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The Peruvian Connection: Federal Agents Bust Alleged Antiquities Smugglers...
Last week a federal grand jury indicted two Utah residents and two Peruvians in an alleged scheme to smuggle recently looted artifacts into the United States. The case started in the fall of 2012 when...
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Latchford’s Footprints in Berlin: A Khmer Ganesh and other loans to the Asian...
Recently, someone suggested we look into the ties between Douglas Latchford and the Berlin Asian Art Museum, where he is said to have enjoyed a “special arrangement” for several years. As you’ll...
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BREAKING: The Met Returns Two Khmer Statues to Cambodia, Citing Clear...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to return two ancient Khmer statues to Cambodia after reviewing clear evidence that they were looted. Here’s Jason’s story in Friday’s LA Times: The...
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Five Years After California Museum Raids, More Anger Than Indictments
In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, Jason has an update on the 2008 federal raids of Southern California museums: When hundreds of federal agents raided four Southern California museums early one January...
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SCOOP: New Evidence Of Stolen Idols at the National Gallery of Australia
This 900-year-old bronze statue of Dancing Shiva, shown on display at the National Gallery of Australia, was stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, India shortly before the museum acquired it, new records...
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Documents Suggest More Stolen Idols At National Gallery Of Australia
Last week we revealed documents suggesting the $5 million $2 million bronze Dancing Shiva purchased by the National Gallery of Australia in 2005 had been stolen from an Indian temple not long before....
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