Beierwaltes Seek to Reclaim Artifacts From Swiss

Lynda and William
Beierwaltes

Through the 1990s, Lynda and William Beierwaltes from Colorado made a name for themselves by creating what became “considered one of, if not, the finest private collections of antiquities in the United States” (they were in the news recently over the Lebanese bull's head scandal). The couple recently were faced with financial difficulties, and were forced to sell their property and declare bankruptcy. They engaged Phoenix Ancient Art S.A. to handle the sale of items from the home. Unfortunately for them, when the dealers took 18 of their items in February 2018 from the US to their gallery in Geneva, they were seized by the Swiss authorities during a search of a warehouse:

Swiss customs agents found the Beierwaltes’ property while investigating seven separate antiques that were stored in the same warehouse. All together, 111 items were seized. [...] According to the Swiss complaint, “no individual or foreign sovereign, and no other third party, has asserted any claim of ownership whatsoever over the Beierwaltes Property.” The Beierwaltes assert they vetted all of their items and “purchased each object in reliance on express or implied representations from reputable dealers and auction houses in the absence of any thefts reported to publicly available databases of stolen art, such as the Art Loss Register.” [...] The seized property includes a bronze Greek figure depicting an attacking lion, a Mesopotamian composite seated divinity, a bronze figure of an Egyptian Osiris and two Greek phalluses. 

The Beirwaltes are suing the Swiss government in federal court for seizing  their property , they seek an award of $24 million in damages. They are represented by Jessica Black Livingston of Hogan Lovells in Denver (Amanda Pampuro, 'Colorado Couple Seek to Reclaim Artifacts From Swiss' Courthouse news August 8, 2018).  People should learn from this that unpapered antiquities are not a medium that ensure you can recover your investment in any place and at any time you want.