Thread by @artcrimeprof

Here's a little message to anyone who buys unprovenanced, probably looted pre-Columbian antiquities (my animation is based on a set of unprovenanced Peruvian gold ornaments to be auctioned off my @ChristiesInc in June, ex. coll. Alsdorf: bit.ly/3cE3Tok)

These are so lovely, and so very probably ripped from a grave.

This sale - christies.com/SaleLanding/in… - contains many antiquities without pre-1970* provenance. Here's a thread of some of them. (*although, given history of looting in the region, I don't consider even pre-1970 provenance as meaning you're in the clear, ethics-wise).

Three jade beads, of similar size, style, and coloration, acquired at three different times from two dealers. To me, that says either faked by the same workshop or looted from the same tomb...

But why think about pesky issues like forgery or looting when you can have your own shiny skull ring?

Another jade carving boasts it was purchased in 1988 from "the Los Angeles collector Herbert L. Lucas Jr. and his wife, Ann Lucas, have a gallery named for their family at the Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, to which they donated a renowned collection of ancient Andean ceramics."

Hey @FowlerMuseum @UCLA, hope you're ok with your name being used to justify the sale of an antiquity without a pre-1970 provenance: christies.com/lotfinder/lot/… @wendyteeter

More examples.

And more examples.

And more and more examples.

#mood when I tell people that buying looted antiquities is not cool

Oh did I mention there's also a #BeninBronze in this sale, just to complete the checklist of types of antiquities whose provenance is definitely not cool? christies.com/lotfinder/lot/… attn @profdanhicks @Feli_Bodenstein

Three Sicán pieces, a culture whose sites were famously heavily looted - see @DrDonnaYates' overview here: traffickingculture.org/encyclopedia/c…

.@ChristiesInc specifies this ancient textile came from garments that were "so profoundly significant, as indicators of status and wealth, that they accompanied their owners to their graves." Hope the buyer thinks of the ancient desecrated grave their new wall decor came from!

Of course, no pre-Columbian sale would be complete without an Olmec baby or a Colima dog! Which are so cute and so so so very often fake.

When buying a supposedly ancient artwork, think: is this something I also like to look at on Instagram? Like, a baby, pet, or sexy person? If so, you're at greater risk of buying a forgery.

Lastly, for the benefit of anyone who wants to forge ancient art but isn't really artistically skilled: check out this beginner's forgery project! If you can carve a line, you could make one of these, with no possibility of scientific tests to foil you!