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Bloomberg provides "a handy guide to collecting antiquities" . . . from a country that has had laws tightly regulating the antiquities trade since 1835 🤔
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
h/t @rogueclassicist
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
h/t @rogueclassicist
No mention of 1835 or other early antiquities laws in Egypt.
Instead we get bogus claims about the 1970 UNESCO Convention . . .
Instead we get bogus claims about the 1970 UNESCO Convention . . .
1. Egypt has been a party since 1973
unesco.org/eri/la/convent…
2. The convention doesn't ban anything, but calls on states to honor the existing antiquities laws of other states!
unesco.org/eri/la/convent…
2. The convention doesn't ban anything, but calls on states to honor the existing antiquities laws of other states!
Egypt *did* ban the antiquities trade in 1983, but this has nothing to do with ratifying UNESCO 1970 -- it passed a new antiquities law in 1983.
But trade and especially exports were tightly regulated long before this.
en.unesco.org/cultnatlaws/li…
But trade and especially exports were tightly regulated long before this.
en.unesco.org/cultnatlaws/li…
Good: Christie's int'l head of antiquities emphasizes the importance of provenance documentation.
Bad: Provenance documentation matters b/c "it’s practically valueless without that paperwork."
Really bad: Might tying provenance docs to value help encourage forged provenance? 🤔
Bad: Provenance documentation matters b/c "it’s practically valueless without that paperwork."
Really bad: Might tying provenance docs to value help encourage forged provenance? 🤔
Why else does provenance matter? Because you might trace an antiquity back to a collector with taste!
Reading this "handy guide" to collecting restricted antiquities, I wonder how far we've really come from Baedeker's 1876 advice to buying illicit antiquities at Palmyra.
