Pilfered treasures a hard sell?

2003-04-17 09:14

New York - Thieves or fences of archeological treasures looted from the Baghdad Museum will have a hard, but not impossible time finding buyers on international markets, US experts and dealers say.

When Baghdad fell to allied forces, about 200 000 art objects from ancient Mesopotamia - virtually the capital's entire collection - were spirited from the museum, drawing a cry of grief from the international art community.

As the United Nations' Paris-based Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Unesco mobilised to rescue the collection, sources in the highly specialised ancient art world said the quality and renown of Iraq's treasures made it near impossible for them to be trafficked through traditional channels.

"You can never do anything with artifacts from a museum, because they are all documented," said New York dealer Howard Nowes. "In the end, it's ridiculous. No one would go near those things.

"You can't buy something these days without a solid provenance: major auction houses or estates," he said.

"To make a quick, small profit, you lose in the long run, because it's terrible to try to deal with something from a museum. No dealer that I know would, all my friends, my colleagues."

Fayez Barakat, owner of a Los Angeles gallery, agreed.

"Before I buy any serious item of any kind, I usually send the Art Loss register a photograh of it and make sure it is free and clear for me to purchase and deal with it," he said.

Art Loss was set up in 1991 by leading art auction houses and insurance companies to create and manage an international database for stolen and missing art. With offices in New York, London and Cologne, the register is a working tool of both professional buyers and sellers.

"It's possible that some pieces are gone, resold, pass through a couple of different hands and perhaps enter the art market," said Anna Kisluk of Art Lost's New York office. "That's where collecting detailed information on what has been looted is critical.

"We hope that cataloging information exists for the Baghdad Museum. We're a database. In order for our system to function, we need the data," she said, adding that the register was in contact with Unesco, which was furnishing data on the missing Iraqi pieces.

Although the classic antique art market is tightly scrutinised, say experts, it is always possible for museum pieces to land on the black market.

"There are always very rich collectors that don't care," said Howard Nowes. "They want pieces and are sometimes ready to pay...You never know."

For Fayez Barakat, while most traders are scrupulous, "there are of course some bad art dealers in this world".

And to deal with that reality, discourage traffic in stolen artifacts and encourage restitution, Philippe de Montebello, director of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, has proposed total amnesty to thieves who voluntarily return their loot.

Moreover, he proposes that the international art community set up a fund to reward such restitutions.

The scheme would doubtless turn into a sort of buyback of Iraqi art from the thieves who stole it. But, seen from another angle, it would be a cut-rate way of salvaging the essence of Iraq's heritage for its people. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA