[CPProt.net] To catch a thief, Observations on art treasures by Phil Chamberlain

[Ellie Bruggeman]

To catch a thief
Observations on art treasures by Phil Chamberlain

When it comes to the search for ancient antiquities, forget Indiana 
Jones or Lara Croft. Think instead about the Italian tombaroli. These 
poor labourers earn pennies raiding tombs for relics that are eventually 
sold overseas to museums and private collectors for thousands of pounds. 
Almost every country with ancient artefacts has its own tombaroli, 
stripping sites of treasure to feed a ready market in the west.

Last month the trial of Marion True, curator of antiquities at the J 
Paul Getty Museum in LA, began. She stands accused of knowingly 
receiving stolen goods and using false documents to help launder 
artefacts acquired by the Getty from a private collection. A coup for 
the Italians, it is yet to be matched here, even though London is a 
prime destination in the multimillion-pound trade. According to 
Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, head of the art and antiques unit at 
the Metropolitan Police, the capital is full of anti-quities 
"trampolining" between different dealers. "They just go from one dealer 
to another, and in effect they are cleansed before they go to America," 
he says.

The issue hit the headlines after the invasion of Iraq, when there was 
concern over the looting of its museums. But Iraq is just the tip of the 
iceberg. Last November, Robin Coningham of the University of Bradford 
reported that 90 per cent of the main archaeological sites in Pakistan 
and Iran had been looted, and many of the stolen goods had been 
channelled through London. The value of this trade is increasingly 
attracting the attention of organised criminals, who use the same routes 
to smuggle in drugs, guns and people. The objects can act as collateral 
- a lot less obvious than bundles of money.

In 2003, a parliamentary select committee report found that "systems, 
resources and co-ordination across different agencies for checking both 
imports and exports seem deeply unsatisfactory". An example is the 
failure to establish a national database of stolen or tainted cultural 
objects. It was recommended by a select committee in 2000, sought by the 
trade and academics, and promised by the Home Office and the Department 
for Culture, Media and Sport. The idea was that traders would be able to 
check the legitimacy of an object by consulting the database.

Last year, to the fury of its own experts, the government shelved the 
idea, claiming that an independent appraisal had concluded it would not 
have been effective. But a copy of this appraisal, obtained under the 
Freedom of Information Act, shows strong support for the database; to 
the police in particular, the plan signalled that the government was 
serious in cracking down on the problem. The government did make a big 
show of backing a private member's bill that became the Dealing in 
Cultural Objects Act 2003. However, it appears no one has yet been 
prosecuted successfully under this law.

Ultimately, the trade is being fuelled by museums and dealers in the 
west, and experts say they must put their house in order. Dr Neil 
Brodie, of the McDonald Institute's Illicit Antiquities Research Centre 
at Cambridge, said: "If you go to museums and ask to see their China 
collection they'll bring it out for you, but if you ask for their 
acquisition records the door will be slammed in your face. It is all 
secret and there needs to be transparency."

And while action is needed to stop the trade between dealers, auction 
houses and museums, the internet is going unchecked. Auction websites 
are full of rare objects. Richard Allan, the former MP whose bill became 
the act, is pessimistic about the chances of progress: "Customs and 
police agendas are set by politicians, and I can't really see 
politicians putting this issue at the top of their agenda in this 
parliament."

http://www.newstatesman.com/