Dugup Dealer Disapprovingly of: "Kyri and his ilk"

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For commenting on the recent Greek antiquities bust in a tone disapproving of looters, collector of Greek extraction Kyri (who prefers not to use his surname) is well and truly savaged by dugup dealer Dave Welsh (here and here and possibly cross posted elsewhere). Now, I have never seen Kyri's collection and what pains he takes to collect responsibly and ethically, I can only go on what he says himself, openly on the ("responsible") artefact collectors' Yahoo discussion forum, and in his many comments to this blog and David Gill's Looting Matters. Certainly he seems to me to come over as sincere, reflective and well-meaning, and at least going through the motions of collecting antiquities responsibly. Welsh claims not to know who he is, accuses him of being anonymous. He is however very much a real figure, younger and better looking than Dave Welsh, a successful London businessman, attending sales at the major London auction houses, with a lovely home in a nice neighbourhood, a very attractive wife and some lovely kids. It's all on the Internet.

Kyri is the type of person involved with the antiquities market with whom one can have a dialogue. Dave Welsh with his backward looking attitudes to responsible collectors like Kyri and their collecting aims is the epitome of all that stands in the way of a proper dialogue, a proper debate and a proper discussion about the current state and future of the antiquities trade. No wonder then that he attacks Kyri with such venom and vehemence.