Welsh Pompeii: a Portable Antiquity Dealer’s ‘vision’

In his questioning earlier today of the notion of public stewardship, Californian coin dealer, ACCG officer and Unidroit-L listowner Dave Welsh opines:

“the vast majority of redundant antiquities controlled by such "meritocrats" are doomed to languish in conditions of appalling neglect and negligence that are in no way comparable to the care and conservation they would receive in private collections. It is my opinion that any objective study of the subject must conclude that public stewardship of antiquities has been a disaster. One really need look no farther than Pompeii to see the essential issues.”

On reading this, I thought it might indeed be a good idea to take a look at Pompeii to see these essential issues. The current state of this fragile exposed and popular site is indeed a cause for extreme concern. Is the problem here that it is in public stewardship instead of being partitioned among private collectors as Welsh suggests? Let us examine where Welsh’s arguments seem to be heading. Let us imagine that a 'forward thinking' administration has replaced Renato Profili by Mr Welsh with his innovative ideas about how to provide 'proper' stewardship of the pieces of Pompeii’s past. In the light of what he is quoted above as saying, and as a collectorship advocate, let's imagine that he would put into practice what he preached about how to provide proper stewardship by engaging in the sale of collectable items from among the 'redundant' (sic) elements of the site not already transferred to a museum. The resources generated from this would go to solving the problems of crumbling frescoes, tourist and natural erosion of the structures, litter and stray dogs.

Very probably the first to go would be any original statuary left in the ruins and stored away from the public gaze, these items should quickly fetch a bit of ready cash to finance further stages of the privatisation. Any reusable panels with parts of inscriptions, or architectural features such as columns, architraves, thresholds and suchlike could be salvaged from their exposed position in the upstanding remains under an Italian sky and reused eclectically in other contexts as architectural features enlivening many a piece of spartan modern concrete architecture, lending a soulless modern interior a certain ‘timeless elegance’ linking its owner with the classical traditions of the past and marking him as an erudite, culturally aware and sensitive individual as well as forming a useful conversation topic at suburban cocktail parties.

Probably some of the better frescoes could be detached from the walls and sold to eager art buyers anxious for a slightly unusual décor in the downstairs bathroom. The ones with erotic imagery would probably be sold even before they could be got off the wall and crated up and would most likely would end up in a Moscow brothel. The famous street-wall graffiti could also be detached and individually framed. They would be ideal to hang on US high school Latin classroom walls (spreading classical education in the US like the Ancient Coins for Education - more of this another time). The famous cross from the wall of one house in the shadow of Vesuvius could probably be found a new home in a New York Evangelical church.

Probably a ready market could also easily be found for a lot of the smaller objects, while the sculptures and frecoes would probably be most profitably sold through foreign art galleries, these could be more easily sold through Internet auction sites. Complete pots, lamps, metal items, coins, found lying where they had been left in the final hours of the city’s life in AD 79 could be sold relatively cheaply and allow anyone to have their own collection of authentic Roman goodies. Amphoras (after discretely drilling drainage holes) would be snapped up as plant holders on suburban balconies across Europe and the USA. Or they could serve as umbrella stands in office foyers.

The casts of the bodies of suffocated Pompeiians might be a bit of a problem. Probably a theme park however could be found to take the most shocking and contorted as a revenue-generating horror show. The ones done in transparent acrylic though might find a place in an art gallery as 'body art', like von Hagen's dissected plastificated corpses.

There might be a problem getting rid of animal bones and charred plant remains to collectors. Possibly this could be got round by tastefully framing them with an explanatory label and a handful of “authentic Vesuvius volcano ash" glued to the backing and spray-painted lurid ‘hot’ colours). The same could go for hand-sized bits of painted plaster, potsherds, window glass fragments.

I would imagine that with clever marketing, some of the more time-worn street paving stones could be taken up and sold to garden enthusiasts wanting to give their lawns and borders the air of respectable maturity. Complete Roman bricks would be intriguing stands for fondue sets or hot teapots (“yes, its 2000 years old, can you imagine that?”). Visitors could be hired small ice pick-like tools to take their own piece of mosaic (“dig and explore like a real archaeologist”), sold at a price calculated at 15 cents a tessera.

And so on… lots of opportunities for private collectors to each have and look after their own “genuine authentic Roman pieces of the past with a Certificate of Authenticity personally signed by authority of the new Minister of Culture”, all that is needed is to develop a collector-friendly approach to stewardship, just like Mr Welsh and his fellow collectors and dealers have been advocating. What I have suggested above would happen to the "minor antiquities" of this site is just a logical extrapolation of what they have been suggesting is how we should (continue to) allow archaeological sites to be treated in general.

While the collector of portable antiquities might be rubbing their hands at the prospect of a glut of cut-price and authentic antiquities coming on the market, let us spare a thought for context.

Collectors suggest that their own personal collection of contextless relics are a valuable way for them to “have access to the past”. No doubt that is the case if that access is primarily measured in emotional terms. But each artefact on the market has come from a context of deposition. Pompeii is a prime example (archaeological theory discusses even the “Pompeii premise”). What makes Pompeii so fascinating for everyone, even the non archaeologist, is the way the evidence can be used to reconstruct past events, past lives, past processes precisely because many of the objects are found in the position (read: context) where they were dropped at or just before a certain short period of time at the end of August AD 79. It was here among other places that the notion of context that was to turn antiquarianism into archaeology began to develop.

What would Pompeii look like after the dealers had finished stripping it of collectables for people to “curate” in scattered ephemeral domestic personal accumulations spread over most of the northern hemisphere? It would be stripped of almost everything which gives the site archaeological (and not only) value today, bare walls would be left, the street plan would remain, but anything along it which gave it character will have long gone to California, Wisconsin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Murmansk, Birmingham and Konstancin. As a place that tells a real story of the past in the full richness of its authenticity and complexity, a collectable-emptied Pompeii will have been gutted, trashed.

This is a very good analogy explaining why archaeologists and others are against the stripping of archaeological sites by artefact hunters of collectables to feed scattered ephemeral portable antiquity collections. Destroying the context of discovery destroys any chance we and others may have of understanding that site and the rich story it could have told if the artefact hunters had not got there first. That is what the issue is.

Portable antiquity collectors may be in denial, but the issue is not one of elitist archaeologists restricting access to individual items (objects, artefacts which collectors want to accumulate), but trying to work towards the preservation and public accessing of the information that is inevitably trashed when a site is "done over" to get a few saleable items for selfish (often foreign) collectors to rub their hands over.

PS. Of course one of the main group of problems with Pompeii are those associated with making its remains accessible to anyone who wants to see and experience it. The easiest answer would be simply to excavate what archaeologists want to research and then backfill the site, cover it all up again making it inaccessible to the general public. The collectors seem not too willing to discuss the 'public accessibility' element of the problem when roundly criticising the current state of preservation of the site and attempting to use it as ammunition for their anti-archaeological case.

Stolen Roman frescoes returned to Pompeii after Investigation

Collectors in the future will not thank people with artefacts now that can't be bothered with keeping the documentation. If the police come knocking and they can't show that they have title to an object in their collection, they may lose it. Six fragments of Roman frescoes have been returned to Pompeii, some after being illegally trafficked in the 1970s (Angela Giuffrida Stolen Roman frescoes returned to Pompeii after investigation Guardian 18 May 2021)

Six fragments of wall frescoes stolen from the ruins of ancient Roman villas have been returned to Pompeii’s archaeological park, after an investigation by Italy’s cultural protection police squad. Three of the relics, which date back to the first century AD, are believed to have been cut off the walls of two Roman villas in Stabiae, a historical site close to the main Pompeii excavations, in the 1970s before being exported illegally. [...] Police found the relics during a broader investigation into the illicit trafficking of archaeological objects in 2020 and discovered that they had been bought by American, Swiss and English antique dealers in the 1990s.

The dealers were unnamed. caveat emptor.

Smug US seller Boasts of his Mum's Theft

Police in Naples want to speak to the person ("Zmdubois") from Lobelville, Tennessee, who is auctioning off on EBay a brick taken from Pompeii, starting price 99 dollars:

BRICK FROM POMPEII This Brick belonged to my mother, now deceased. She "acquired" it when they were in Naples, Italy in 1958. The city of Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. My parents traveled a lot, and when they were in Pompeii, she couldn't leave there without a brick. She did a small write up for all the artifacts she acquired, it is in one of the photos. This brick is authentic, there's no doubt. I have no use for it, so now you can have it for your collection. You won't find to many of theses on eBay. Thanks for looking. Yes, this is the brick that is getting all the attention in Italy!

The listing, which includes four photographs, caught the attention of archeologists — who contacted the authorities. The sale has ended, there were no bids. That last smug comment really takes the biscuit.


Lee Moran, 'Italian cops hunt American behind eBay auction of ancient brick stolen from Pompeii', New York Daily News   January 14th 2014. 

Artemis fresco stolen from Pompeii

A portion of a fresco of Apollo and Artemis has been stolen from the world-famous archeological site of Pompeii, Italian dailies reported Tuesday. Citing an employee at the world's largest open-air museum, newspapers Il Mattino and Il Messaggero said the fresco portion, measuring roughly 20x20 cm, has been missing from the House of Neptune for one week. 

Pompeii has been plagued for decades by accusations of mismanagement, neglect and even infiltration by the local Camorra mafia. The bits of the fresco still in situ look to be in a terrible state too.

http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/84058/Artemis-fresco-stolen-from-Pompeii.html#.UyhZ0rlnN3Y.twitter

Nameless Tycoon had Pompeii Frescoes Stolen Sixty years ago

'US finds Pompeii frescoes robbed in 1950s' 26 May 2015

Frescoes stolen from the ancient site of Pompeii in the 1950s have been found in the US after their wealthy owner died. The three frescoes were due to go up for auction after an American tycoon passed away, leaving his valuable private collection, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Tuesday. The artworks have been missing for nearly 60 years, since being stolen from the superintendency of Pompeii in 1957. They depict a young woman with a cupid on her shoulder, a woman carrying a wine pitcher and a male figure. [...] The find marks the end of a lengthy operation to find items stolen in the 1957 raid, with other pieces recovered previously in Europe and the US. A fresco of a peacock was discovered in Switzerland, one of wine god Dionysus had been taken to the UK, while an sacrifice fresco was found in the US.

And just by coincidence the name of the grabbing "tycoon" and his or her efforts to check where the frescoes came from, thereby wasting police time, is nowhere revealed.

Belgian Family Never Learnt about not Buying Stolen Antiquities

 

One born every minute. Some villager from Herzele in Belgium was on holiday in Italy and came home with an ancient artefact which he reportedly took out of the country without the requisite paperwork ('Stolen Pompeii earthquake relief found in Belgian village stairwell' The History Blog December 22, 2023)

5-year-old Raphaël De Temmerman, bought the relief under circumstances that were almost comically shady during a trip to Italy in 1975. He was visiting Pompeii with his little boy Geert when they were approached by a man carrying something heavy in a burlap bag. He showed them the contents — a marble slab — and asked them for money. A quick exchange of cash for goods, and the seller turned tail and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. De Temmerman took his “souvenir” home and added it to the new greay marble cladding on the staircase wall, a renovation inspired by Pompeii and ancient Rome.

It turns out that the marble relief had been stolen on July 14th, 1975, from the house of banker L. Caecilius Iucundus in Pompeii where it originally hung above the atrium altar. Belgium will probably return it to Italy under existing legislation, but there's a snag. Reportedly:

Meanwhile, the De Temmermans want compensation for the looted object [...] and are considering getting a lawyer to advocate for their interests. Their argument is that at least they kept the looted object safe for five decades [...] because after all, the piece hung here for 50 years without anything happening to it. It could so easily have been sold on or broken.”

Or treated as "decor" and cemented into some foreign Philistine's wall.

Vignette: Repairs with grey concrete and then secondariloy grouted, some of which is on the surface of the object. Yuck.

Roman Building in Pompeii Collapses

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Roman walls weakened by seismic activity and excavated many years ago in Pompeii are subject to all sorts of damage due to their exposure. The upkeep of a site like this is a huge problem. Sadly one of the victims of the difficulties of overcoming them was the "House of the Gladiators" ("Schola Armaturarum Juventus Pompeiani") which collapsed just after dawn on Saturday, while the site was closed. It is believed the walls had been weakened by being penetrated by rain.

While the rest of us are upset by that, some US antiquity dealers see in this event an opportunity for point-scoring. Dave Welsh, unpleasant Californian ancient coin dealer triumphantly gloats on behalf of no-questions-asked collectors eager to get their hands on foreign dug-up classical antiquities:

"This disaster is concrete proof that "source states" such as Italy are in many cases unwilling or unable to take proper care of what they are already responsible for. That should be considered in deciding whether everything exported from a state neglecting its custodial responsibilities, or discovered there in the future, should be turned over to it".

[Mr Welsh of course neglects to point out to his applauding-collector readership that the US only "turns over" to other states that which has been shown to have been illegally removed from it]. So, I suppose by the same argument if a house collapses in St Louis the Egyptian state can demand the return of the Ka-Nefer Nefer mummy mask they have there in SLAM? Or when a house in Chicago collapses, the Art Institute ought to send all its artworks away? Or in Brooklyn, so we should empty the Met? Or in Washington DC so the Smithsonian collections should be dispersed? Where is the logic in that? I suspect if truth were known there'd be a few historic buildings, pueblo ruins, ghost town shacks, old mine shafts all not more than a few hundred years old not too far away from where Welsh is writing which are also collapsing due to natural processes. What logical reason would there be however for people of other countries to use that as an excuse for taking away and retaining illegally obtained North American cultural property ? That is plain stupid.

You Tube is full of dramatic videos of entirely modern buildings just collapsing (here too), there have been many tragic cases (an exhibition hall in Poland a couple of years ago for example). This does not mean that the people of these whole countries are "unwilling or unable" to take proper care of the structures in the country, it means that there are some buildings both old and new that need more money spent on them - in fact, are there many buildings more that a decade or so old that do not need money spent on their upkeep, and that money is not actually being applied when and where needed? Some of us have no doubt lived in such buildings.

When are collectors and dealers going to end this nonsense? They all claim they collect this dugup stuff and sell it because of a ("passionate") "interest in history". 'Told ya so" gloating when another remarkable survival of the past goes the way of all such fabric must inevitably do really does not suggest to me that there is any cultural sensibility in the US "collectors' Rights" lobby.

Neither is there any honesty. Note what Welsh actually wrote:

That should be considered in deciding whether everything exported from a state neglecting its custodial responsibilities, or discovered there in the future, should be turned over to it".

That is dishonestly suggests that the "source" countries are in fact asking for such a thing. That is of course totally untrue, though I bet there's not a collector on the yahoo list who's been brainwashed by the incessant repetition of these lies by self-appointed "collectors' rights" advocates will even spot the trick. Mr Welsh would be hard pushed to inform collectors precisely who in the international (or is he just talking about the US?) context of the global antiquities trade would be doing the "deciding" to which he refers. What a slimy piece of text.

Instead of gloating about the collapse of this building, how about the ACCG setting up a fund to send some US conservators to help the Italian ones retrieve the fragments of fresco from the rubble and reconstruct them? After all it was a Greek coin collector (Anthony Milavic) at the recent CPAC meeting at Washington who was saying that it was illegally exported Greek coins were such a vitally important source of iconography of sporting events which is so vitally important to a US citizen understanding the classical heritage. I reckon therefore the frescoes in that building were equally important to ACCG members and US citizens alike and they should be joining in the effort to rescue something from this ruin and not just gloating like grinning monkeys.

UPDATE: Beside Welsh's combative phillistinism even Peter Tompa's post looks moderate:Pompeii Collapse Brings Political Recriminations, now I see Welsh has a post on his blog about this: "Italy's heritage crumbles". "This story is very much relevant to our struggle to prevent collecting ancient coins in the United States from being strangled by import restrictions requested under the 1970 UNESCO Convention...." [by the way the Convention says states should prohibit all imports of illegally exported items which fall under the "source" state's legislation, the MOU is applied for under the US' own CCPIA]. It's funny isn't it when US dealers want to sell the stuff, it's "everybody's (mine too) heritage", except when they find it convenient to refer to it as ITALY's.

For some comments on the building itself, excavated in 1915, see Blogging Pompeii [hat-tip to PhDiva]

Photo: Image of damage disturbing to many of us used as an occasion to gloat and score points by insensitive antiquity peddlars and opposition politicians.

UK Antiquities Market Watch, Are Laws Being Broken? 'Ancient Roman Wall Plaster Fragment From Somewhere With Original Paint'

Spotted by ARCA‏ @ARCA_artcrime being sold by ancientworld95 (1006  ("Why is Antiquities Dealer Association Dealer, Brigantia, selling pieces of Pompeii on eBay? Hey, Jie Yin do you have an export license?"): RARE! Ancient Roman Wall Plaster Fragment from Pompeii With Original Paint  (https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Ancient-Roman-Wall-Plaster-Fragment-From-Pompeii-With-Original-Paint/273861532789?hash=item3fc36b5c75:g:0cIAAOSwtFxcGAun). A few hours after this was pointed out, mention of the origins of the piece were deleted from the sales offer: RARE! Ancient Roman Wall Plaster Fragment With Original Paint.  So legitimation by reticence. As the market works today, it's a case of "ask no questions, get told no lies".

Note that 'ancient worlds' has a whole bunch of unprovenanced GOLD items represented as antiquities - one can see that with dealers less than forthcoming about origins, how the law concerning the reporting of Treasure items can easily be circumvented in the UK by simply not saying where the items was found, when and how. And NOBODY is monitoring this.

Empty words:

“ADA members shall promote the lawful trade in antiquities and oppose any illegal and unethical trading and the illegal removal of antiquities from their countries of origin. This is a key principle of our Association”

Like: "the PAS is monitoring EBay"...

American tourists caught with Pompeii relic

The Local, 'American tourists caught with Pompeii relic', 16 Sep 2014

Two American tourists were caught at Rome’s Fiumicino airport with a 30kg artefact from the ruins of Pompeii stashed in their luggage. The artefact, which would have adorned a building at the site near Naples, was discovered on Monday morning in the tourists’ luggage in their rental car. They reportedly intended to fly home but were stopped by airport authorities and now faces charges of appropriation of state heritage, Il Mattino said.[...] The US government’s travel website tells citizens, “while you are traveling in Italy, you are subject to its laws.”

duh. One shudders to think how they thought they'd be getting that onto the plane without detection.

Mary Beard on Our Recreations of Pompei

Is Pompeii an ancient or a modern wonder? Its ruins have been rebuilt and the bodies of the volcano's victims are plaster casts, says classical historian Mary Beard.

our Pompeii - like most classical sites, in fact - is the product of collaboration between modern rebuilders and conservators, and the original Roman builders themselves, with the lion's share of the work on our side. And it's no less impressive or moving for that - as the body casts help to show.

Mary Beard, 'A Point of View: Pompeii's not-so-ancient Roman remains',BBC News, magazine, 23 November 2012

Guilty Tourist Thieves Return Ancient Roman Objects to Pompeii

Telegraph Staff, 'Guilty thieves return ancient Roman objects to Pompeii' Daily Telegraph 23.12.14

Curators of ancient city of Pompeii say they have received “hundreds of packages” from tourists returning stolen artefacts accompanied by notes “expressing regret”.

Normal people realise it is wrong to take trophy pieces from archaeological sites. How many collectors and dealers have the same understanding and have voluntarily returned items?

Of Obelisks and Obstructionists

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I was interested to see the connection David Gill made between the fuss made by antiquity collectors about the unfortunate collapse of buildings in Pompeii.

There have been suggestions by some that it demonstrates that Italy does not care for its cultural property: indeed, that 130 or so antiquities should have remained in their North American public and private collections rather than going back to Italy.

and that "North American commentators who hold such views will have been chastened to read the text of a letter that Zahi Hawass has written to the president of the Central Park Conservancy and Michael R. Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City. It concerns the current state of preservation of the obelisk of Thutmose III (mislabelled “Cleopatra’s Needle,” and stuck out in all weathers in Central Park since 1880). Quick as a flash Cultural Property Observer retorted...

Apples and oranges. It's hard to protect monuments from weathering in cold places like New York and London. What does Hawass expect? Encasement in glass perhaps? Anyway, New York isn't asking for repatriation of its cultural heritage from Egypt or anywhere else as far as I can tell. In contrast, Egypt and Italy are and should be held to account for it. By whom? Mr Tompa sugests that the obelisk (a single and as we see movable object) cannot be protected from the effects of New York weather but expects the Italians to think of a way to stop the rain falling on Pompeii.

Vignette, obelisk of Tuthmosis III from Heliopolisin in its original setting in Alexandria, it probably would have done much better to leave it and its pair now in London there in its original setting (from Wikipedia).

Dodgy Cultural property returned to Italy, False provenances, Garbled Paper Trails

Elisabetta Povoledo, '25 Looted Artifacts Return to Italy' May 26th 2015.

At first glance the 25 artifacts displayed in the courtyard of a former convent just off the Tiber River here on Tuesday seemed to have little in common: three first-century B.C. fresco fragments from Pompeii were exhibited alongside fifth- and sixth-century B.C. Etruscan and Attic vases, a 17th-century Venetian cannon, a 12th-century mural fragment depicting Christ and three rare 17th-century books. What they shared was a nefarious past. Each had been looted from Italy and smuggled into the United States in recent decades, only to be recovered from American museums, auction houses, private collections and even a university.

The articles were found in a number of regions of the USA, Homeland Security agents from New York City, Buffalo, Baltimore, Boston, Miami and San Diego were involved in the investigations leading to the returns.

Each artifact returned to Italy had its own story. The three first-century B.C. fresco fragments depicting human figures, for example, were stolen on June 26, 1957, from the Culture Ministry offices at Pompeii. Tracked to a San Diego warehouse, they were taken by agents in September 2012 from the private collection of an unnamed “American magnate” before they could be sold at auction, Italian officials said. The authorities later identified the frescoes as belonging to the Allen E. Paulson Trust, which forfeited them to the United States government, which then returned them to Italy.

An Etruscan black-figure vase with dolphins, dating to 510-500 B.C., was seized from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. The museum had acquired it in 1982 from Giacomo Medici, an international antiquities dealer. Mr. Medici had provided the museum with “false provenance documentation,” Italian officials said in a statement.

An Attic red-figure vase, acquired from Mr. Medici in 1983, was recovered from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which returned the piece once its illegal provenance was determined. Several artifacts were seized from auction houses and art galleries.

[...] no criminal charges had been filed regarding any of the returned artifacts. In some cases, the statute of limitations on any crimes would have expired. In others, the paper trail for an artifact’s import into the United States was too garbled to reconstruct.

Dealers and collectors seem remarkably prone to problems keeping those paper trails free of garbling and loss... A cynic might begin to suspect that there is some ulterior motive in this rather than just sheer carelessness and poor business practices.

December: Pompeii added to Google Street View

Google has added Pompeii to its Street View application, allowing internet users to take a 360-degree virtual tour of the ancient Roman city (source BBC).

Some Antiquities Without Collecting Histories Difficult to Fence

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Italy is one of the countries whose archaeological heritage is at risk from commercial artefact hunting. The country has an uphill battle to protect its wealth of archaeological sites from opportunistic thieves and 'tombaroli':  "who feed a vast international market in looted artefacts estimated by the FBI to cause as much as $6 billion in losses each year" (Naomi O'Leary, 'Italian police recover Roman statue stolen from Pompeii', October 18, 2012). Mosty of the objects entering the market by such means, because of the clandestine means by which they "surface" (from "underground")  cannot figure on any register of "stolen art". One object, a terracotta bust possiibly of Agrippina the Younger, stolen from Pompeii "between 25 and 30 years ago" was however noted as missing. When it surfaced again on the market, it was spotted:

Police said the terracotta head had been hidden for years by a dentist in Parma, who had tried to sell it but couldn't because it was too conspicuous as a stolen work. The head was recovered after the 62-year-old tried to sell it through an antiques dealer from Piacenza aged 36, who accidentally alerted police as he tried to find a buyer. Both are now charged with receipt and possession of archaeological goods.

It is uncler if the dentist is suspected of having taken the object in the first place, or whether a third person will be investigated and charged.

See IlPiacenza, 'Reperto di valore inestimabile nel laboratorio di un antiquario' IlPiacenza 18 Oct 2012 for photos of the object.

While it may be difficult for dealers to shift some antiquities which for one reason and another have no verifiable collecting histories establishing licit origins, it would seem most other dealers have no problems at all shifting theirs, just as long as there are no photos somewhere (showing either that they were somewhere they should not have been, or conversely they are not now where they should be). Since that does not apply to most looted objects, as long as the market stays no-questions-asked, there are no problems for middlemen and dealers shifting them. Let's put a STOP to that.

[That includes all who genuinely care about the legitimate trade in licit antiquities.] 

 

Footballer Wanted to Take Antiquity?

According to Italian newspapers, Argentine footballer Ezequiel Lavezzi, a striker for Paris Saint-Germain, is being investigated allegedly for attempting to smuggle a Roman statue out of Italy, during his multi-million pound transfer in May 2012 from Italian club Napoli to Paris St Germain. 

The alleged theft dates back to May 2012, as the Argentinian was preparing to leave Napoli football club for Paris, International Business Times Italia reported. Customs officers making a routine check found the statuette in his luggage as he was about to embark a private jet at Capodichino airport. Lavezzi claimed it was “a gift from a Neopolitan who lives in Posillipo,” prosecutors said.

Reports that it was a "marble bust from Pompeii" are being denied by Culture officials.  It is alleged that the item found at the airport was a fragment of a terracotta antefix of the 1st century BC/1st century AD.

The Local, 'Paris striker accused of Pompeii relic theft', 10 Jul 2013

Vignette: "What I was thinking?"

Buying the Past in Pieces: World History Seen from Idaho

The Idaho firm Engineered Labs (Tim and Cory Marriott) designs and manufactures "unique science-related gifts", amoung them is

"the Heritage Personal Museum, a collection of fragments from 33 historical artifacts and rare specimens enclosed in an acrylic case, which it sells on its website for $189.99. The collection features fragments of items such as Egyptian mummy beads, a woolly mammoth tusk, and Mayan jade"

 One of the Marriots explained that "the company would only sell fragments “that are already broken in small pieces” for the product", which really begs the question of where on the market one can actually acquire (legally or without regard to antiquities laws) buy such small embeddable pieces? As far as this observer of the trade is concerned this looks to be an extraordinarily difficult task. Unless they are misleading us about not breaking stuff up to sell off piecemeal. Here's the blurb and full list of the current offering (note, the "Mayan (sic) jade" is missing):

 The Heritage Museum is a collection of artifacts from the history of the world. The specimens have been specifically selected and curated for the museum. From meteorites and dinosaur fossils to barbed wire from D-Day, the personal museum includes artifacts from some of the most important events in history. Each artifact is carefully prepared for inclusion. The samples are then professionally cast in acrylic. The museums are polished to a glass-like surface and will last for generations with proper care. [...] Each artifact in the museum is authentic and has inherent historical importance. The artifacts span not only the history of the world but also the history of the universe. The museum dimensions are approximately 4.5" x 6.0" x 1.0" and contain 33 artifact specimens. A microfiber bag and a certificate of authenticity come with every museum. The following list shows the specimens that are included in each museum. We hope that you will find the following artifacts as interesting and intriguing as we do. 

1.     Revolutionary War Lead

2.     USS Constitution Wood

3.    Civil War Bullet

4.   Wright Brothers Flyer Fabric

5.   [Lockheed] SR-71 Titanium

6.   Space Shuttle Insulation

7.   Apollo 11 Command Module Metal

8.   Sand from Pearl Harbor

9.   D-Day Barbed Wire (Utah/Omaha Beaches)

10.           Sand from Iwo Jima

11.           Trinitite (The Manhattan Project)

12.           Berlin Wall

13.           Titanic Coal

14.           Great Wall of China Fragment

15.           Ancient Greek Pottery

16.           Coin from the Roman Empire (c. 300 AD)

17.           Pompeii Ash

18.           Egyptian Mummy Linen (c. 100 BCE)

19.           Woolly Mammoth Hair

20.           Mini Shark Tooth Fossil

21.           Megaolodon Tooth

22.           Petrified Wood from Antarctica

23.           Insect Embedded in Amber

24.           Ankylosaurus Armor

25.           Tyrannosaurus Rex Tooth 

26.           Dinosaur Egg Shell

27.           Dinosaur Coprolite 

28.           Triceratops Brow Horn

29.           Plesiosaurus Bone

30.           Moldavite

31.           Stromatolite

32.           Martian Meteorite

33.           Carbonaceous Chondrite"

It is interesting to note that of these 15 items (Nos 19-33) are geological specimens that can be picked up at most rock and mineral markets. We note that virtually none of them are provenanced (for example what is the registration number of the meteorite specimens used?).

Then we note that in this encapsulated view of "not only the history of the world but also the history of the universe" the USA figures very prominently... (nos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). One wonders how some of this material was accessed, for example the metal from space vehicles (as I understand it remains like this are property of the US government). For this reason, there is no piece here of space shuttle wreckage, and material from (American) Civil War battlefields. I guess that "Berlin Wall" and "Titanic coal" are also here because of a perceived US connection.  Note that nothing pre- 17776 is there for the entire American continent. This is White American history. 

This basically leaves five items to represent the rest of world history, black and white: 14. Great Wall of China Fragment (protected monument, "obtained by governmental permission from the Badaling Section". This theme will appeal to Trump voters though), 15. Ancient Greek Pottery (unprovenanced, "4th century BC"). 16. Coin from the Roman Empire c. 300 AD ("the ancient coin included in the Heritage Museum comes from this profoundly influential empire", so metal detecting somewhere... The ones pictured seem to have Trier mintmarks), 17. Pompeii Ash, 18. Egyptian Mummy Linen c. 100 BCE (so, actually Coptic: unprovenanced, how and when did it leave Egypt?). So the staple eBay collectables periods, Egypt, Greece, Rome (no "Viking"?) and China.  

This product came to notice because of a silly Tiktok video that featured the deliberate shattering of an Indus Valley pot, apparently in the company's stores. There are other pots of this class type visible, one has a drainage hole and was presumably manufactured as a plant pot. Another has non-canonical decoration. When a fuss blew up about the video, it was explained that the pot was a replica ( Ade Onibada, 'Turns Out That 3,000-Year-Old Artifact That Was Destroyed In A Viral TikTok Was Fake And The Company Has Nobody To Blame But Themselves' BuzzFeed News May 13, 2022):

The short clip that has gone viral and prompted criticism was captioned “this pottery made it 3,000 years without breaking” and ended with the creator tossing the small pot to the ground, where it smashed on impact. In reference to the now-deleted TikTok, Marriott explained that the employee made the decision to incorrectly describe the replica as a 3,000-year-old artifact “to grab attention.” “Obviously, we wouldn't break a pristine cultural artifact just for a TikTok video,” Marriott said in his email.

So, just a stupid marketing stunt to draw attention to themselves.  And yes, most Indus Valley/Harrapa/ Mehrgarh pots and artefacts on the market are fakes.

When will this Simian Coiney Nonsense STOP?

Pay peanuts you get monkeys. If the IAPN pays nothing at all for lobbying, they get Peter Tompa of Bailey and Ehrenberg PLC, who writes the same utter crap time after time. He used to get paid for it, now apparently he's doing it in his own free time. Here he is in full tinfoil helmet mode (System Now Rigged; Underlying Facts Have Not Changed):

'This is what I said, more or less, at today's CPAC meeting about the renewal of the current MOU with Cyprus. [...] "I am speaking on behalf of the International Association of Professional Numismatists and the Professional Numismatics Guild, which represent the small businesses of the numismatic trade...". '

Is he? Can the IAPN confirm that they fully endorse this junk? I bet they don't.

'We've heard a lot from first [...] the Trump campaign[...] that the system is rigged. Here, unfortunately, there is strong evidence that may be the case.'

No there is not, Trump's own statements reveal him to the rest of us as a small-minded, petty, bigoted, xenophobic, groping, fact-dodging pig. He's not going to get enough votes to lead his country to shame and disaster because many Americans do not share his 'values'. Neither do all Americans support artefact smuggling and theft. No 'rigging', just common decency. Something Trump and many coin dealers seem to lack any understanding of.

Coins are items of commerce. So, it is difficult for modern nation states to justifiably claim them as their “cultural property.”

So, nothing that is an item of commerce is cultural property? That's a new definition on me. The artisans, craftsmen and artists who made the items in our museums made them to sell, to buy food for their families. Are the items circulating in the well-documented kula ring exchange system cultural property for the Washington 'observer' or not? And if they are not, is that because they were made for circulation, or is it because as the products of  'tribal', brown-skinned folks, this is not the White lawyer's idea of 'real cultural property'? But it is culture, isn't it? What about stone axes or bronze age objects, exchanged over large distances in elaborate social networks before being hoarded? Also nothing to do with 'cultural property'? Or are coins part of some kind of  'superior' Aryan exchange system and therefore different from the goods of 'primitive' excchange. This is a serious question for the IAPN and PNG. As for the coins themselves, and building on that last argument, this is a really simian comment:

They are probably the most common of historical artifacts and are not of “cultural significance.”

Both parts of that sentence are complete tosh, as any fool will know. The coineys' representative, speaking on behalf of TWO "professional" associations reveals himself utterly pig ignorant. The 'cultural property lawyer' would presumably think that in Colonial Williamsburg 'coins are the most common artefact' found. I wonder if he has been there and asked the staff or is he just making this up as he goes along?  In Pompeii? In Pharaoh Ahmose's tomb? On the streets of Dura Europos? In a Pictish crannog? A Tuscan Roman villa? The Athenian Agora? The excavation of WW1 trenches at Ypres? What is this guy talking about? On which site or sites or in which county's archaeological record are discarded coins in fact the most common artefacts found? Facts or lobbyist's nonsense statement?

As for whether they are 'real cultural property'... coins of course - as are any other elements of material culture - as the name suggest are not bananas. Material culture is part of culture, and is part of the material evidence of the nature of that culture. Only an orang utan would argue otherwise and head for the bananas.  Then the US rep of the IAPN and PNG brings out the 'playing the victim' and 'discrimination' arguments: 

It simply makes no sense to preclude Americans from importing coins where there is no real “concerted international response.”

Since we are talking about the US CCPIA, let us now add what the commentator carefully omitted: 'in flagrant disregard of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on ...' and see it it makes a great deal of sense if we want to prevent the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Americans have a voracious appetite for such items (they imagine they help them find imagined 'roots' and serve as trophies and providers of cachet as symbols of 'erudition and culture' ). So yes, of course it makes sense to try and get some discipline into that particular market. Now for more Tinfoil Helmet time....

it has recently come to light that the decision maker at the time made the decision after she had already announced she was leaving for a job at Goldman Sachs, where she was recruited and works for the husband of an AIA Trustee who has been very active lobbying on cultural heritage issues.

(for more on the connection with chemical trails, illuminati and the GM bananas - see here: Goldman Sachs Power and Influence Benefit Archaeology Lobby?) This is the coiney idea of a 'smoking gun'. So? And who does Mr Tompa's wife work for? And has she recently changed jobs? Or received any "awards"? We need to know, people. Two can play at the 'ridiculous coiney' mud-slinging game. Then we have a justificatory 'Two Wrongs' argument:

“dig dollars” might be better spent on site security during the long off season and paying her local workers a fair living wage so they will not be tempted to do any looting in the long off season.

The lawyer fails to prove that looting is exclusively, mainly or sometimes done by former site workers. Or restricted to archaeological sites (and what about church thefts?). I have discussed this nonsense before (nobody much else will give this 'justification' of smuggling the time of day). The IAPN meanwhile has failed to make a single payment from its fund established to carry out the pilot programme  of their OWN SUGGESTION. Not a single one. That speaks volumes for its commitment to its own ideas. Like everyone in the antiquities dealing world, they are quick to sling the mud and demand that others deal with the mess the no-questions-asked market creates. They run a mile from any suggestion that they participate in any way.  For the logistics see here (the IAPN obviously have not looked into it, so they do not know): 'Guarding The Sites...' PACHI Sunday, 14 July 2013.

I argue that, apart from its impracticality, expense and unproven effectiveness, the position of the IAPN and PNG are egregious examples of orientalist Trump-like racism: 'Collectors' Colonialist and Supremacist Ideology'. Nothing these people write about the citizens of the source countries dispels that impression.

Having tried it once, the IAPN and PNG representative trots out on their behalf yet another 'Two Wrongs'. This one takes the biscuit.

Finally, the State Department and Cyprus have never seriously considered alternatives to import restrictions like the Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure Act.

Why should they, pray? And what has the state department of the US got to do with what the Cypriots do in their own country across the seas? In any case, only in the circles of the ignorant coineys of Washington, surely are there poorly literate people who cannot work out that neither the PAS not the TA in any way regulate the export of artefacts, so are of absolutely zero relevance to the current form of the atavistic 1980s "CCPIA". It beats me how may times you have to explain this without the loudest of them (at least) catching on. Is it really so difficult for the IAPN and PNG ("professionals") to understand this? Is there really something in the corrosion products of the coins they handle that rots the brain? After all, the PAS and TA have been in existence twenty years, and there is a lot written about it (for C2s and Ds indeed) in plain English.  The kids-left-behind in the US who cannot keep up with concepts as complex as tying their own shoelaces really should stay silent - at the back. That way people just assume they are stupid. When they shout out what they 'understand', we all are able to ascertain the truth about that.

Then, de rigeur,  the US representative of the IAPN and PNG trot out the usual 'playing the victim' and 'discrimination' arguments again bit again (he likes that one, plays well to the gallery):

 Indeed, it's a real shame that they particularly hurt the ability of Cypriot and Greek Americans from getting in touch with their heritage. 

What is a shame is that the IAPN and PNG are selfishly insisting on the 'right' (sic) to buy stuff smuggled from under the noses of Cypriots and Greeks whose families did not become economic migrants and still live in Cyprus and Greece. Nothing stops Cypriot and Greek Americans from getting in touch with their heritage by going to live in Cyprus and Greece to contribute there to the licit economy there, instead of financing the illicit one. Have the IAPN and PNG asked a representative sample of Cypriot and Greek Americans if they really want Greece and Cyprus looted of their culture to line the pockets of members of the International Association of Professional Dealers and the Professional Dealers Guild? My guess is that most of the decent ones would say a decisive no. Except some of the ones that will vote for Donald Trump anyway.

UPDATE 27th October 2016
An anonymous so-called "scholar/dealer" claims to have "answered" the above post. In fact this reply has about as much in common with authentic scholarship as bananas. The sock puppet concentrates on my discussion of the moronic assertion presented to the CPAC as a "fact", viz (I quote):

Coins [....]   probably the most common of historical artifacts and are not of “cultural significance.” 

That is what was solemnly said in Washington, and that is the thesis I discussed and showed was erroneous.The sock puppet weasels:

This is a perfect example of how you can be criticized for what you haven't said and don't mean. I would say that coins are among the most common of all ancient artifacts that are found in areas where coins were used.

No, Mr Weasel face, Tompa is criticised for what he not only said, but published in black and white. In any case coins are NOT the most common historical artefact found ANYWHERE "where coins were used". Not even in the Athenian Agora, Pompeii, or a Roman villa in Tuscany, or First World War Belgium (a fully monetary economy, and yes soldiers had money with them there). Mr faceless Weasel (who we do not learn whether he is a member of either of the "professional" [sic] associations so compromised by this statement) has failed to address the other TEN points I raise.

Really pathetic Mr Tompa, totally and utterly pathetic. How many more anonymous "supporters" can you conjure up to make idiots of themselves? How about getting somebody from the board of the IAPN or PNG to come here (or on your blog) and support what you said allegedly on their behalf and at their bidding? Dare they? Come on coineys, back up what your man says. Pathetic, the lot of you with your selfish false arguments. You just show how worthy you are of being accorded any attention in the heritage debate.

The rest of us can just take a look at the comment by David Knell for more evidence of a total lack of joined up thinking in the milieu of the no-questions-asked trade.

Coates will be there to advise Ted Cruz

Art historian Victoria Coates has published a number of essays and books on antiquity and used to work in Cleveland Museum of Art (2010-13: Consulting Curator on the exhibition "The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, and Resurrection"). Now she is National Security Advisor for Ted Cruz. Claire Voon ('Ted Cruz’s National Security Adviser Probably Knows More About Raphael than Russia', July 29, 2015) discusses the relationship between her academic and political work.

Are there any Moderates?

.
Last night I commented on the implications of a Californian coin dealer's gloating over the collapse of a Roman building at Pompeii, and asked whether any members of the Tim Haines' Yahoo "responsible collectors" discussion group would protest against such an interpretation. Well, as far as I can see the Welsh-supporting group owner has no protest to make. Some of his members do though.

Dave, why do you have to put a political slant on every misshap that befalls "source countrys? Last time it was "the Cypriot commies"now its the Italians not being able to "take proper care" of its cultural heritage. The Italians, Greeks and the Egyptians are all very proud of their cultural heritage and are all more than capable of taking proper care, have you seen the new Acropolis museum in Athens or the refurbishments of the Coliseum in Rome, money is being spent and just because times are hard at the moment [all due to the greed of your compatriots in the form of the subprime market in the US, which has screwed all of us] I am a collector and have said many times that I defend anyone's right to collect as ethically as possible, but believe me you don't do yourself any favours by coming out with nonsense like this.

Well said, that man! This was followed by another comment by a person who felt his intelligence was being insulted by the manipulative phrases the ACCG officer used and added:

My real sorrow, as a collector, is to see yet another example of a debate being conducted at the extremes. I'm absolutely fed up with being told that we have to choose between the status quo or no collecting at all. Who represents the views of the moderates? People who don't believe the extremist myth that there are only these two options. People who enjoy collecting but want to do so as ethically as possible? People who occupy the middle ground. Who represents us?

The first contributor agreed:

as usual another intelligent post , and I agree with you 100%. There seems to be two extremes to this debate and no middle ground for collectors like us who try to collect the right way.

Then collector David Knell concurred with the other two and added

"Nice to see that this Welsh nonsense does not go unchallenged by those of us who can think".

Well that is it isn't it? The ACCG and similar naysayers are counting entirely on the collector not being able to think and question for themselves. Once one starts noting the little verbal tricks utilised to mislead and create alarm and checking them against the real facts of the case, the whole edifice starts to topple - rather like some of the buildings on the You Tube videos I was discussing last night. Sadly very few collectors have the mental stamina to work their way through the contortion of deceits with which the way to an understanding has been strewn by the ACCG lobbyists like Dave Welsh. The emergence of collectors who can determine between a "right way" to collect, and a "wrong way to collect" is of course what no-questions-asking dealers in dugup antiquities want to avoid at all costs. This is the origin of all the verbal gymnastics to fog the issues, all the aggressive attacks on organizations and individuals advocating responsible collecting (with the exception of the UK's PAS - think that one out).

Its nice to see that a handful of portable antiquity collectors can actually see where these self-appointed leaders of the hobby are leading the rest by the nose, and are able to understand the wider issues. It is a shame there are not more of them. It is interesting to note that all three of these collectors mentioned above live in England.