The Manhattan District Attorney’s office seized
the objects — collectively valued at $90,000 — in April
from an unnamed Manhattan gallery, whose owners faced
no charges after agreeing to forfeit the pieces.
The antiquities |
investigators seized six items, including a 4-inch-tall, 2,800-year-old Sardinian bronze warrior valued at $30,000, from the unnamed gallery, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The $90,000 haul also included a drinking cup emblazoned with two goats butting heads from the late 4th century B.C. worth $8,500 and a wine jug decorated with panthers valued at $22,500, officials said. The items were looted from archaeological sites in Italy, including tombs, in the 1990s then smuggled into the US, according to the DA’s office.Oh and:
The gallery, which had listed the antiquities for sale, was unaware that they were stolen and fully cooperated with investigators, authorities said.He probably thought they grew on tees, like spaghetti. The items concerned are:
I. Paestan red-figure lekythos, an oil flask depicting a man holding a plate of fruit, dating to 340 B.C. and valued at $9,500.Reportedly:
II. Sardinian bronze warrior wearing a helmet and carrying a bow, dating to the 8th century B.C., and valued at approximately $30,000.
III. Proto-Corinthian oenochoe, a wine jug decorated with rams and panthers, dating to 650 B.C. and valued at $22,500.
IV. Sardinian bronze ox dating back to the 8th century B.C. valued at $6,500.
V. Attic red-figure lekythos, an oil flask depicting a man holding a lyre, dating back to 430 B.C. and valued at $12,500. [seized pursuant to a search warrant from a different gallery in Midtown Manhattan PMB]
VI. Apulian Xenon kantharos, a drinking cup decorated with the image of two goats butting heads, dating to the late 4th century B.C. and valued at $8,500.
VII. Greek bronze Herakles holding the horn of Achelous, dating to the 3rd or 4th century B.C., and valued at $12,500.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Senior Trial Counsel, and Assistant District Attorney Christopher Hirsch handled the recovery of the artifacts. These recoveries were made possible through a joint investigation with the Italian Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale and with the assistance of the following individuals: Angelo Ragusa, of the Rome Office of the Archaeological Section of the Carabinieri; Ms. Leila A. Amineddoleh, professor at Fordham University School of Law, St. John’s University School of Law, and New York University; and Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis, Affiliate Researcher at the Scottish Centre of Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow, and lecturer for the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art ("ARCA") in Italy.
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