Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Learning from the Herm

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

David Gill, 'Context Matters: Learning from the Herm: The Need for More Rigorous Due Diligence Searches' apparently the learning curve is a long one for some who work in the antiquities trade...

Vignette: Herm and girl

kyri said...: interesting read,though nothing we didnt already know.to be honest i have some sympathy for some of the private collectors involved.take Graham Geddes for example,though he is a dealer/collector he obviously had a passion for his own collection[antiquities only forming a small part],a very decent ethical man by all accounts,who unbeknown to him was buying antiquities with made up provenances.this was in the early 80s,before watsons book and before the shit hit the fan for medici and others.he was buying from a world famous auction house,pieces that were published for all to see in the catalogue and buying in good faith.25 years later he finds himself in the middle of a storm with many pieces in his collection becoming unsaleable overnight.its easy to say the collectors are the real looters as Ricardo elia did but in many cases they are the victims.
kyri.
ps i was at the geddes sale at bonhams and bought a very nice campanian bell krater by the boston ready painter.i was luckier than geddes in that i did my research,i simply avoided buying anything with an 80s sothebys provenance like the plague and still do.; 10 June 2015 at 09:51