A Benin Bronze With Fishy Provenance Goes to Auction hyperallergic.com/573457/fishy-p… 
The plaque was part of a large cache of Benin decorative plaques looted during the British punitive military expedition of 1897. This plaque, cast in brass, depicts a mudfish, not dissimilar to a plaque currently in the collection of @WeltmuseumWien which was 'acquired' in 1899
Doubts have been cast by scholars @artcrimeprof and @profdanhicks as to its provenance as described on the auction house website at christies.com/lotfinder/lot/… Frederick Knize was an Austrian collector whose descendant sold the plaque to the New York art dealer John J Klejman
According to the late Thomas Hoving, the flamboyant former director of the Met, J J Kljeman was one of his "favorite dealer-smugglers" with a history of dubious activities, particularly involving Greek, Roman and Byzantine antiquities artnet.com/magazineus/fea…
And another "red flag" is the fact that the vendor of this Benin plaque, the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, was involved in litigation over a Nazi-looted Picasso painting "Woman in white" in 2005 before settling with the true owner's heir chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-20…
The #Benin brass mudfish plaque is part of the stolen cultural heritage of the #Edo people and the #Benin Royal Palace and it is time that steps are taken to prevent auction houses from auctioning these rare artefacts in exile @plunderedart @artcrimeprof @profdanhicks #Christies
@threadreaderapp unroll please
