[MSN] An ancient Egyptian offering vessel expected to sell for as much as $30, 000 at auction this week has been pulled from the sale over concerns over how it was removed from that country, Christie's auction house said.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Artifact removed from auction over concerns it was stolen
 

June 12, 2006, 4:57 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) _ An ancient Egyptian offering vessel expected to sell for as
much as $30,000 at auction this week has been pulled from the sale over
concerns over how it was removed from that country, Christie's auction house
said. 

"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," the auction house
said in a statement on Monday. 

Christie's said it was working to facilitate the return of the vessel to
Egypt as quickly as possible. The auction house would not elaborate on what
it had learned about the circumstances of the object's removal from Africa. 

The vessel, made out of alabaster, consists of two halves and is carved in
the shape of a bird. Experts said it is more than 4,000 years old. 

In ancient Egypt, the dead were often buried with items they might need in
the afterlife, like food and drink. According to the auction catalog, those
offerings were sometimes kept in containers shaped like the material they
were holding. 

The online catalog said the piece was part of a private collection in Israel
and was acquired prior to 1975. 

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. 

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