Stolen Egyptian artifact removed from Christie’s NY auction
Published June 13th, 2006
A 4000-year-old Egyptian alabaster container shaped like a duck and used for a funeral offering has been withdrawn from auction because it may be stolen property, Christie’s auction house said on Monday.
The Old Kingdom alabaster offering vessel dating from 2575 to 2134 BC was expected to sell for $20,000 to $30,000 before it was withdrawn from the sale, according to the Christie’s online catalog for its June 16 sale of antiquities in New York.
“Upon receiving information which led us to believe that the object had possibly been improperly taken out of Egypt, we contacted the appropriate U.S. authorities and withdrew the item from the sale,” Christie’s said in a statement.
“We are pleased that the transparency of the public auction system has led to the possible identification of a stolen work of art and its return to its country of origin,” it said, adding that the item would be returned as soon as possible.
The catalog listing described the vessel as “composed of two halves, sculpted in the form of a trussed fowl.”
A number of countries, including Italy and Greece, have been putting pressure on institutions like museums to return antiquities that may have been removed illegally.
In February, the Metropolitan Museum of Art agreed to hand back to Italy more than 20 allegedly looted ancient artifacts in exchange for loans of Italian treasures.
Former Getty Museum antiquities curator Marion True is on trial in Rome for allegedly conspiring with dealers to traffic in looted artifacts. Officials in Italy and Greece have identified dozens of works held by the Getty that they believe were looted.
