The Banality of British Lootier Crassness

This really beggars belief in this day and age (Harriet Sherwood, 'Victoria and Albert Museum to look after ancient Yemen stones found in London shop Guardian Tue 12 Sep 2023 )

The V&A is to look after four ancient carved funerary stones that were found by police in a shop in east London in a historic agreement with Yemen. The stelae, which date from the second half of the first millennium BC, come from necropoli that have been looted in recent years. The V&A will care for, research and conserve the stelae on a temporary basis before they are returned to Yemen when it is safe to do so [...] The stones were discovered by an archaeology enthusiast in an interior design shop in east London, and recovered by the Metropolitan police’s art and antiques unit

The stelae will eventually be repatriated, but before that will feature in the Museum's exhibition connected with its "Culture in Crisis" that helps curtail the illegal trade of looted objects and the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide.It is not stated how many of the stelae acquired by the shop had been sold before the police paid them a visit. The shop was unnamed.

 

 

Article 10: The States Parties to this Convention undertake [...] (b) To endeavour by educational means to create and develop in the public mind a realization of the value of cultural property and the threat to the cultural heritage created by theft, clandestine excavations and illicit exports.

The UK is failing, utterly, to do that.