[MSN] The Art Newspaper. Christie's could face legal action over Cordoba beams. Lawyer representing the Church of Cordoba says he may issue proceedings this month if matter is not resolved "amicably"

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Christie’s could face legal action over Cordoba beams

Lawyer representing the Church of Cordoba says he may issue proceedings this
month if matter is not resolved “amicably” 

Posted 11 May 2006


By Lucian Harris

   
 Beam of contention 
 
 
LONDON. Christie’s may face legal action for having included five beams from
the ceiling of the tenth-century Great Mosque in Cordoba in an auction last
month. The objects were withdrawn from sale at the last minute. 

The Art Newspaper has discovered that the Metropolitan Police’s art and
antiquities unit is “investigating an assignment of valuable oak beams
allegedly stolen from a museum in Cordoba in northern Spain”, according to a
police statement. The police have confirmed they are working with
investigators from Spain. 

When asked why it withdrew the beams from an Islamic art sale on 4 April,
Christie’s said it is “in dialogue with the Spanish authorities with a view
to negotiating a private sale for the five wooden beams from Cordoba

Christie’s has [withdrawn] the beams [from the sale] to continue these
discussions.” 

But Jonathan Wheeler, a lawyer with Irwin Mitchell, which represents the
Church of Cordoba, says that he firmly believes that Christie’s withdrew the
beams from sale because his firm provided the auction house with evidence
supporting a proposed application for an injunction, which would have
prevented the sale. He said that if the matter is not resolved amicably
soon, he expects to receive instructions to issue proceedings against the
auction house this month. 

He told The Art Newspaper that “there is very strong evidence that [the
beams] were [in Cordoba] until at least 1946 which means that they are
covered by the 1926 Spanish law” which provided that objects which deserve
to be preserved for the Spanish nation for reasons of art or culture could
not be sold or exported. He says that it is clear that the beams fall within
that definition. He added that he is not aware of negotiations for a private
sale of the beams to the Spanish government. 

The five 20-foot beams, carved with Arabic calligraphy, were to be the
highlight of an Islamic art sale. “Rare wooden beams raise the roof”
trumpeted Christie’s pre-sale promotion of the objects, which had an
estimate of around £1m ($1.78m). 

Once the catalogue had been published, the Spanish ministry of culture
immediately issued a request that the beams be withdrawn from sale until it
could be established how and when they left Spain, from the Church of
Cordoba, owner of the former mosque—which became a cathedral in 1236 and is
a Unesco World Heritage site. 

According to the Christie’s catalogue, the beams had lain for decades in a
barn, although the catalogue does not state in which country, only that
“verbal tradition in the family was that they had come originally through a
property they had owned years ago in the region of Arles, southern France”. 

Prior to the sale, Christie’s declared it was satisfied with the provenance
given by the consignor, described as “a private European collector who
acquired them outside Spain in 1998”. 

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=267