The Swing painter and the Becchina archive
Attic black-figured amphora
Attributed to the Swing painter
Becchina Archive
Source: Dr Christos Tsirogiannis
In December 2002 Christie's Rockefeller Plaza sold an Attic black-figured amphora attributed to the Swing painter for $53,775 (December 12, 2002, lot 16). It was stated as 'The property of a private collection". The amphora is listed in the Beazley Archive (no. 26090) although no other information is provided other than the sale at Christie's.
However this same amphora has resurfaced on the London market and is due to be auctioned at Christies on 15 April 2015 (lot 83). The estimate is £50,000-£70,000. The collecting history is now provided as:
Private collection, Japan, acquired prior to 1980s.
Anonymous sale; Christies, New York, 12 December 2002, lot 16.
Private collection, New York, acquired at the above sale.
with Charles Ede Ltd, London, from whom acquired by the present owner in 2006.
It is now the property of 'a gentleman'.
Were the staff at Christie's in New York unaware that the amphora had resided in a Japanese collection in the 1980s? Why were they unable to provide that information?
This amphora is important as Dr Christos Tsirogiannis has spotted the piece in the Becchina archive. Indeed the annotations on the record card show that images of the amphora were sent to three European academics.
Becchina had links with a Japanese dealer so the private collection in Japan is not without interest.
And (part of) the stock of Becchina's Basel operation has been the subject of considerable interest since it was revealed earlier in 2015.
Will 'the gentleman' withdraw the amphora from the auction? Or will Christie's withdraw the lot?
And what does it say about the 'due diligence' search conducted by Christie's prior to the sale?
Attic pottery Becchina Christie's Italy Japan polaroids
Labels: Attic pottery Becchina Christie's Italy Japan polaroids
I'll point out again - the auction houses seem not to have access to the archives that Dr Tsirogiannis has been using.
Do you feel that their due diligence would have been more rigorous if they had the same level of access as he does?
Codename: Ainsbrook
I have been watching (UK) Channel 4's Time Team this evening. The programme looked at an undisclosed field (under a potato crop) where a Viking burial had been found. The location in Yorkshire was so sensitive that it was given a codename: Ainsbrook. Here is the summary:
In late 2003 two metal detectorists were working in a field in Yorkshire. They found 'treasure' buried just beneath the surface – a collection of Viking material next to a body. Although they had been detecting on the site for a number of years, during which time they had made large numbers of finds, nothing they had uncovered previously compared with this. They decided to share their discovery with archaeologists.The programme explored the tension between metal-detectorists and the English Heritage sponsored archaeologists putting six trenches into the field based on a geo-physical survey. Finds made by the metal-detectorists did not easily map onto the archaeological features.
Part of the programme had an …
The scale of the returns to Italy
I have been busy working on an overview, "Returning Archaeological Objects to Italy". The scale of the returns to Italy from North American collections and galleries is staggering: in excess of 350 objects. This is clearly the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the material that has surfaced on the market without a history that can be traced back to the period before 1970.
I will provide more information in due course, but the researcher is a reminder that we need to take due diligence seriously when it comes to making acquisitions.
Stele returns to Greece
The Hellenic Ministry of Culture has announced (Saturday 8 September 2018) that a stele that had been due to be auctioned at Sotheby's in London in June 2017 has been returned to Greece (Friday 7 September 2018). The identification had been made by Cambridge-based forensic archaeologist Dr Christos Tsirogiannis.
It appeared that the stele had been supplied with a falsified history as its presence with Becchina until 1990 contradicted the published sale catalogue entry. It then moved into the hands of George Ortiz.
A year ago it was suggested that Sotheby's should contact the Greek authorities. Those negotiations appear to have concluded successfully.
The 4th century BC stele fragment, with the personal name, Hestiaios, will be displayed in the Epigraphic Museum in Athens. It appears to have come from a cemetery in Attica.
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