Museum of Looted Antiquities

Want to join the team at MOLA tracking the illicit antiquities trade? We're looking for two volunteer Contributing Editors who can help develop and peer review new cases and contribute to upcoming exhibits. Part time, remote and flexible hours. See details in the posting below or reach out [email protected]

Case of the Day: The so-called 'Robert Olson' collection represents one of the most extensive smuggling networks moving (for the most part) freshly looted items from Thailand and Cambodia (mostly prehistoric pottery or other grave goods, especially highly-sought Ban Chiang style ceramics). One of Olson's suppliers, Mark Pettibone, sourced freshly looted items at source. Bribes and false export licenses changed hands, and many shipped items had "made it Thailand" stickers, as seen on tourist replicas. The late Prof. Roxanna Brown helped to authenticate items before her eventual arrest and death in custody. It began to unravel in 2008 at the end of an undercover operation by the National Park Service. 'Operation Antiquity' recovered thousands of items from several So. Cal. museums, showed they were willing to accept looted antiquities even after policy reforms triggered by the antiquities controversy at the J Paul Getty Museum. The use of the U.S. National Stolen Property Act and Thai export laws to declare the imported goods as smuggled has also been referenced in subsequent seizures. Olson and Pettibone were criminally indicted in 2013. Olson died in May 2017 while awaiting the start of his trial. https://lnkd.in/gWZr82dm

ILMS is one of the few sources of U.S. funding for the work museums do to preserve the past.

The American University of Rome is delighted to partner once again with UNICRI to offer Specialized Course on Cultural Heritage, Crime and Security, 9-13 June 2025, Online. Cultural heritage is threatened like never before by conflict, trafficking, culture wars and climate change. Find out what you can do to help stop it. #culturalheritage #UNESCO #ICOM #ICOMOS #ICCROM More information and registration at: https://lnkd.in/dEr-kPG6

One of my latest discoveries from the Medici archive is now published by the Dutch journalist Theo Toebosch: a Greek 6th century B.C. Siana cup which I identified in the gallery of Mieke Zilverberg in Amsterdam. The cup's earliest 'provenance' was the notorious Sotheby's antiquities auction on 17th and 18th of July 1985... The vase should soon be repatriated to Italy.

EVENT | Documentary Screening: Artifact War The Middle East Program (MEP) invites you to a special screening of the documentary, "Artifact War," followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and experts—Artifact War Co-Director Evan Carpenter and Co-Directors of the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research Project Amr Al-Azm and Katie A. Paul—moderated by Wilson Center Fellow Steven Heydemann. ?? Apr 4, 10:30AM-12:30PM ??RSVP: https://buff.ly/WeXcmvN

Case of the Day: The 'green coffin', or the Sarcophagus of Ankhenmaat, was seized in 2022 and returned to Cairo in 2023. Dating 300 to 30 B.C.E. This uniquely green stained sarcophagus lid was looted from the Faiyum region of Egypt in 2008 and entered the notorious Dib-Simonian antiquities trafficking network. It thus changed hands between their Hamburg gallery, private collectors, Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum and finally Houston's Museum of Nature and Science. This case also began to unravel the Dib-Simonian network itself, but not before other high-profile museums were revealed as clients. https://lnkd.in/g3YHxPT3

NEWS: The Manhattan DA has returned 20 looted antiquities to Nepal Several were seized from Manhattan dealer Subhash Kapoor. Others from University of Michigan Art Museum, the estate of New York-based collector Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, and Navin Kumar Gallery https://lnkd.in/gnBAP22H

Thanks for all the interest in the Contributing Editor positions! We're accepting applications until March 11 and plan to make decisions by the end of the month.

Case of the Day: In April 2022, the Manhattan DA seized a large bronze statue of emperor Lucius Verus from Shelby White's apartment; one of 89 total antiquities from 10 countries seized at once, with a total value of $69 million. The Lucius Verus was also looted from Bubon, Türkiye, in the 1960s, one of several dispersed to museums and collectors worldwide. Restitution of these and other pieces from Bubon continue apace. https://lnkd.in/gHzAe-di