[MSN] Medieval plate offered for sale by Christie's was illegally exported from Bulgaria, Greece will not return collection of unique plates to Bulgaria

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MEDIEVAL PLATE OFFERED FOR SALE BY CHRISTIE'S WAS ILLEGALLY EXPORTED FROM BULGARIA
15:51 Thu 12 Jul 2007

Medieval plates, one of which was previously offered for sale by auction house Christie's, were illegally exported from Bulgaria.

Prosecution representative Kamen Mihov said, as quoted by Focus news agency, that nine of the plates were currently on display in three museums in Greece and there was incontestable evidence that they had been found in Bulgaria.

Authorities expect an answer from Greece whether the plates will be returned to Bulgaria.

The plates date back from the 14th century and are extremely precious. So far only three similar objects have been found in the world, prosecution expert Todor Chobanov said.

Besides the nine plates in Greece, there are four more plates that are supposedly in the UK.

Another was offered for sale by Christie's in November 2006. The unique Byzantine silver plate was found in a place that was inhabited around fifth and sixth century CE.

The plate had been found during an illegal treasure-hunt excavation near the Bulgarian town of Pernik in 1999.

Bulgaria protested unsuccessfully against the auction. However, the plate remained unsold because the prices offered were too low. Bulgaria is awaiting a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report.

GREECE WILL NOT RETURN COLLECTION OF UNIQUE PLATES TO BULGARIA — AFP
10:20 Thu 19 Jul 2007

Greece has no immediate plans to return a collection of unique Byzantine silver plates that are believed to have been illegally exported from Bulgaria.

Last week Bulgaria announced that it had asked for the return of nine solid silver plates acquired by Athens in 2003, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The plates, which date back to the 14th century, are currently on display in three Greek museums.

Greek museum officials said that a lack of proof that the objects had been smuggled was the reason for their refusal to return them to Bulgaria.

Angelos Delivorias, director of the Benaki Museum in Athens, which is displaying some of the pieces, said if Bulgaria “presents us with evidence showing that these works have been stolen in recent decades, obviously we will hand them over, but for the moment that is not the case”.

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