Dealers suggest that if museum reserve collections were emptied and "duplicate" artefacts somehow released onto the market, the looting of archaeological sites would cease. Even in the days when there was a free circulation of artefacts on the antiquities market and relatively few export controls, archaeological deposits were emptied of artefacts to sell to collectors. There is an obvious connection between the antiquities market (demand) and the digging up of artefacts from productive sites to supply that demand. I do not see how any dealer or collector can attempt to deny that with a straight face.
 |
| Charles [Karl] Wilda (1854–1907) Austrian Orientalist painter, 'The Jade-green Isis' (1884) oil on panel 45.7 × 29.2 cm |
No comments:
Post a Comment