You may have seen the headlines: “Aborigine wants boomerang to return
from Britain,” “Antiquities Returned to Greece by Getty Museum,”
“Looted Antiquities Returned to Iraq,” and so on.
Here’s an excellent related story from the Associated Press that you don’t want to miss:
from Britain,” “Antiquities Returned to Greece by Getty Museum,”
“Looted Antiquities Returned to Iraq,” and so on.
There is no question as to whether or not antiquities removed from
their country of origin illicitly should be returned. But, what about
those items that have been exported through the proper channels? Where
no duplicity was involved?
This week, Antique Trader wants to know: Should historic artifacts
always be returned to their country of origin if they were originally
legally obtained?
Please e-mail Robyn.Austin@fwpubs.com or post a reply here to let us know.
Here’s an excellent related story from the Associated Press that you don’t want to miss:
If historical artifacts are legally obtained through all of the legal channels I really do not see a reason to return them to country of origin. Obviously such artifacts are in private collections or museums where they are preserved and respected for what they are. Hopefully they are not peddled for gain. But then the question becomes: are private collections for sale? Of course the answer is yes on some occasions especially when there is the death of that specific collector. Family members who prefer money over history are obviously ready to sell. In a democratic society we cannot dictate to whom the seller must sell.