tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post423872710920694534..comments2024-03-27T04:46:33.198-07:00Comments on Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Huffington Post on the Antiquities Trade: "clandestine, lucrative and often dangerous"Paul Barfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-80996194232756064432012-11-24T14:14:58.747-08:002012-11-24T14:14:58.747-08:00your right,it is the trade in "minor pieces&q...your right,it is the trade in "minor pieces"that is doing all the dammage.<br />kyri.kyrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12725342826698223232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-80038952969377794632012-11-24T14:14:29.953-08:002012-11-24T14:14:29.953-08:00your right,it is the trade in "minor pieces&q...your right,it is the trade in "minor pieces"that is doing all the dammage.<br />kyri.kyrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12725342826698223232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-24091847238752789362012-11-24T13:45:06.019-08:002012-11-24T13:45:06.019-08:00Well, the "billions of dollars" does not...Well, the "billions of dollars" does not come from me, I was more interested in the "mobsters and terrorists" bit of the quote (your answer skims round the former). <br /><br />Yes, I think you are right, antiquities is not "billions", but I think we are talking about millions. (the billions is used mainly with reference to the whole art market, not just illicit antiquities) <br /><br />I disagree about people asking about provenance. This blog, and David Gill's too are dfull of stories of objects appearing and being bought with dodgy background stories. <br /><br />In any case, the market is not run on 200k vases, most of it are the shabtis, scarabs, coins, lamps, unguent pots, glass flasks, brooches, pins, seals - little things. Easily pocketed. It is the digging over of sites for objects such as these which is destroying the sites. The "small business" the multiple transactions involving so-called "minor antiquities" which are the cause of most of the damage. <br /><br /><br />Paul Barfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443302899233809948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8174756573570334952.post-88449544071310326372012-11-24T13:29:26.394-08:002012-11-24T13:29:26.394-08:00hi paul,do you really believe that the illicit tra...hi paul,do you really believe that the illicit trade is worth"billions of dollars each year",poppycock [now theres a word i bet you havent heard in a while]<br />maybe 10-15 years ago a 500k greek vase could be sold on to a museum or to a high end collector after passing through the hands of a few dodgy dealers but not now,there isnt a no questions asked trade on that scale.sure the 5k vases are still popping up out of nowhere but "billions of dollars worth a year",im sorry im not convinced and there is no evidence to suggest such a figure.maybe these new schemes will shed some light on the matter,at least on the figures involed.<br />i agree that antiquities can be used as a source of income for terrorists,or freedom fighters[one persons terrorist is another persons freedom fighter]but this is nothing new,even the great greek patriots like odysseus andhroutos who were fighting the turks in the greek uprising of 1821 were selling on greek antiquities to raise money for the cause[the greek war of independence,david brewer,page 263]<br />in my opinion it would be easier to sell 5 kilos of heroin than an antiquitie worth 200k,there wont be anyone asking where the heroin come from but the people that can afford a 200k antiquitie would want to know where it had been for the last 40 years.there is still a no questions asked market but nowhere near the scale suggested.<br />kyri.kyrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12725342826698223232noreply@blogger.com