Raided Lost Art[chaeology], in the Market or Not?

The story of the theft — and ultimate return — of a magnificent ancient vase painted by Euphronios, the greatest Greek vase artist of antiquity, is a gripping tale that has helped to cripple the illicit international art trade trills the article about Vernon Silver's book the Lost Chalice annoyingly titled "Italy Cracks Down On Raiders Of Lost Art" (Ugh!). The claim that the enire market in dodgy stuff is "crippled" seems a bit of an overstatement. Especially in the light of the closing lines of the article:

Italian authorities confirm that there has been a sharp decline in the underground art trade. But they stress that the theft has been massive. Over the past few decades, the art theft police squad has recovered some 800,000 artworks from antiquity, but authorities estimate that's only about 40 percent of the total looted by the raiders of lost art.

So that means there is still another 1200000 items stolen from archaeological sites in Italy alone out there, that hardly heralds a crippled market.

Silver's book is discussed by David Gill here.