[MSN] Is the Art Loss Register (ALR) useful when it comes to preventing the emergence of recently looted antiquities? I have been collecting and discussing a range of views and comments on the subject and it seems to be an appropriate moment to take stock.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The Art Loss Register and Antiquities 

David Gill

http://safecorner.savingantiquities.org/2007/10/art-loss-register-and-antiqu
ities.html for original blog with links.

Is the Art Loss Register (ALR) useful when it comes to preventing the
emergence of recently looted antiquities? I have been collecting and
discussing a range of views and comments on the subject and it seems to be
an appropriate moment to take stock.

First, it is clear that if an object is already known, residing in a public
or a private collection, and is then stolen, the ALR can help to identify it
when (or if) it re-emerges.

Second, if an object is stolen from a public or private collection, and the
theft is reported to the ALR, the database should pick it up if it comes to
light.

However, there are problems if an object is stolen but the theft is either
unreported, undetected, or predates the ALR. This seems to be the case for
the Mummy Mask from Saqqara, or the Stele from the Thebes (Greece) Museum.

But can the ALR detect recently looted ("illegal" in contrast to "stolen")
antiquities as seems to be suggested by Christopher A. Marinello, general
counsel of the ALR?

Certainly ALR can help with the "due dilgence" process, but it is not the
full picture. A collection which is in part formed after 1970 can still be
issued with certificates from the ALR, but they only demonstrate that the
objects are not known to have been stolen. (They could have been stolen but
the theft could be unreported.)

Private collectors, senior academics, and even ALR staff seem to be unaware
of the limitations of the ALR database when it comes to recently looted (or
"illicit") antiquities.

The ALR does important work relating to the identification of stolen items.
But does it make the limitations of its database known to potential clients?
Is the ALR generating a false sense of security? Its website appears to be
noticeably silent on the matter even though it notes the specialised service
for antiquities.

How can the ALR become more responsive to the trade in antiquities? How can
it help to save antiquities for everyone?

http://safecorner.savingantiquities.org/2007/10/art-loss-register-and-antiqu
ities.html