Looting Matters

A Gnathian Krater from the Swiss Art Market

2013-05-24T22:35:00.001+01:00

Among the items presented for auction at Christie's Rockefeller Centre on June 6, 2013 is a Gnathian bell-krater (lot 600). Its collecting history ("provenance" [sic.]) is provided as "Art Market, Switzerland, 1994".

My colleague, Cambridge University researcher Christos Tsirogiannis, has identified the krater in one of the photographic archives seized in Switzerland.

Who is consigning this krater for the auction? Who is the present proprietor?

Can we presume that the staff at Christie's have contacted the Italian authorities as a matter of urgency?

Coins returned to Bulgaria

2013-05-23T19:18:00.000+01:00

Source: ICE

ICE has announced the return of 546 ancient coins to Bulgaria ("Federal authorities return ancient coins to Bulgaria", May 21, 2013).

Bulgarian Ambassador Elena Poptodorova was quoted:

It is a special privilege to receive today, on behalf of the Bulgarian people, a part of our rich antique patrimony that was unlawfully taken away from us, ... I would like to thank both the HSI and CBP for their excellent work and high professionalism in retrieving these valuable ancient coins and returning them to where they belong, their homeland Bulgaria.

It appears that the coins were intercepted after a false declaration of origin.

Two Canosan kraters returned to Italy

2013-05-22T23:05:00.001+01:00

This time last year I was commenting on identifications made by Cambridge researcher Christos Tsirogiannis. He spotted that a pair of Canosan krater that were due to be auctioned in the June 2012 sale at Christie's Rockefeller Plaza could be identified from the polaroids in the Medici Dossier.

The research did not go unnoticed. The pair of kraters were returned to Italy on 14 September 2012. Investigative journalist Fabio Isman informs us that they are currently in an exhibition of repatriated antiquities at the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome (20 May -5 November 2013).

Tsirogiannis has written up the work for the next number of the Journal of Art Crime (2013). The detail is telling but readers of LM can wait for the publication.

This return demonstrates that items identified from the Medici Dossier (and this should be extended to the Becchina and Schinoussa archives) are perceived as "toxic". This is not the first time that such a return has been made from this auction house.

Readers of LM will be aware that Tsirogiannis has made a number of identifications in the June 2013 auction (although not all the pieces have been discussed). Two things need to happen. First, senior officers at Christie's need to look closely at what appears to be a flawed due diligence process in their "ancient art" department. Second, somebody should be contacting the Italian authorities as a matter of urgency.

Euboean amphora from the Borowski collection

2013-05-22T10:00:00.000+01:00

One of the pieces to note in Christie's forthcoming sale in June is a Euboean black-figured amphora showing a seated woman and a sphinx (lot 540). The amphora first surfaced in an anonymous sale at Sotheby's (London) December 3, 1991, lot 383. It then entered the collection of Dr Elie Borowski and was sold for $10,575 at Christie's (Rockefeller Plaza) on June 12, 2000 (lot 27; "Ancient Greek Vases formerly in the private collection of Dr. Elie Borowski"). It was then sold twice by Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 2001 (Art of the Ancient World, vol. XII, no. 172) and 2010 (1000 Years of Ancient Greek Vases, no. 31).

Cambridge University researcher Christos Tsirogiannis has spotted the amphora in the Medici Dossier. This suggests that Medici, or one of his agents, consigned the pot to Sotheby's in London. (See other pieces that passed through Sotheby's in London and since returned to Italy.) The amphora seems to have been photographed prior to surface cleaning.

Will one of the staff at Christie's be contacting the Italian authorities to clarify the full collecting history of this piece?

Dr Mona Ackerman and Robin Symes

2013-05-21T14:11:00.001+01:00

Detail of Apollo.
Source: the Schinoussa Archive

The Huffington Post has carried a feature on the sale of the art collection formed by Dr Mona Ackerman (Katherine Brooks, "Dr. Mona Ackerman Art Collection: Works By Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp And Egon Schiele Head To Christie's", April 12, 2013). One of the pieces, a marble Apollo, is shown in her apartment. The report quotes Paul Provost, Deputy Chairman of Christie's:

Provost explained that Dr. Ackerman worked closely with Peter Marino, an apartment designer, who helped to arrange the eclectic mix of masterpieces in her expansive New York City apartment. One particularly beautiful display included a figurative marble work by Jean Arp as well as a Roman marble torso of Apollo. Both sculptures were displayed in front of the ample apartment windows overlooking the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a subtle juxtaposition of Ackerman's far-reaching tastes.

"Arp has human forms in many ways, about the same size of this Roman torso from the 1st or 2nd A.D," said Provost. "There is a millenia separating them, yet they are harmonious as two beautiful marbles with tremendous symmetry and balance. A significant amount of thought went into this juxtaposition."

It is perhaps significant that the Apollo seems to be the one that features in the Schinoussa Archive of photographs.

The appearance of such Symes material on the market is clearly seen as problematic by some major auction houses. [See overview.]

What is the full collecting history of the Apollo? Will the Italian authorities be interested in this piece?

I am grateful to Christos Tsirogiannis for making this identification from the Schinoussa Archive.

New York market and recently-surfaced antiquities

2013-05-20T19:35:00.000+01:00

Fabio Isman has published an article noting how items identified from the Medici, Becchina and Symes photographic archives are surfacing in the New York Christie's auction this June ("La Grande Razzia è ancora tra noi, e Christie’s lo sa", Arte Magazine, May 2013). He includes a number of photographs from these dossiers, and gives credit to Christos Tsirogiannis for the identifications.

He poses the question, what will Christie's do?

We know what Christie's should do if they are serious about due diligence. A member of their antiquities department should contact the cultural attache at the Italian Embassy.

Is that what will happen?

Additional collecting histories for an Attic krater

2013-05-20T10:00:00.000+01:00

It appears that further information can be added to the Athenian black-figured column-krater due to be auctioned at Christie's on June 6, 2013 (lot 546). The catalogue entry tells us:

Art Market, Freiburg, 1988.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1990 (One Thousand Years of Ancient Greek Vases from Greece, Etruria & Southern Italy, no. 35).
Patricia Kluge, Charlottesville, Virginia.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 2010 (One Thousand Years of Ancient Greek Vases II, from Greece, Etruria & Southern Italy, featuring the Patricia Kluge Collection, no. 50).

The present proprietor is stated as a Midwest Private Collector.

The Royal Athena Gallery informs us of a parallel collecting history:

Ex German collection; Patricia Kluge collection, Charlottesville, Virginia, acquired from Royal-Athena in 1991.

The Beazley Archive (no. 44199) omits the "old German collection" as well as the anonymous Midwestern private collection.

The dealer in Freiburg is perhaps one noted elsewhere on LM but we cannot be sure.

But the main omission is that the krater also seems to appear in the photographic archive of Gianfranco Becchina.

Did Becchina supply material to the Freiburg market? If so, what other material from the Freiburg market can be traced to Becchina?

Kluge is also interesting as a collector.

But is this the only piece in the New York sale that can be identified from the photographic archives?

Can we presume that the head of Christie's antiquities department will be contacting the Italian authorities as soon as possible?

I am grateful to Cambridge researcher Christos Tsirogiannis who made the identification.

Due diligence and collecting histories

2013-05-18T22:16:00.000+01:00

Collecting histories are important. They indicate the routes through the antiquities market. And the collecting histories for objects that have been returned to Italy as a result of the Medici Conspiracy are fascinating. So if, say, a major auction house was asked to offer an object that shared the same collecting history (some continue to use the flawed term "provenance") as a returned object, I would presume that the staff of the antiquities department would conduct a rigorous due diligence process. Not only would they contact the Art Loss Register, but potential buyers would expect these purveyors of ancient art to contact (say) the Italian authorities to ensure that there is no overlap with the three major seized photographic archives. Can we be sure that such a rigorous process has taken place? What can buyers expect?

"Convincing provenance" and the London market

2013-05-16T22:10:00.000+01:00

Readers of LM will know that I keep emphasising the need for properly documented "collecting histories". It now appears that Egyptian antiquities, with what were termed "convincing provenances", had to be withdrawn from a sale at Christie's (London) earlier this month (Georgina Adam, "Apples - only $41.6m a bowl", Financial Times May 10, 2013). It seems that the material had come from a recently looted tomb near Thebes ("they were believed to have been stolen from a recently discovered and excavated tomb in Thebes"). We perhaps should note the FT's careless use of the word "excavated". The reported collecting history was that the objects came from an uncle who had served in Egypt during the Second World War.

It is a good reminder that auction houses need to apply more rigorous processes during their research on lots.

The Wonderful World of Disney

2013-05-10T21:52:00.000+01:00

This lecture will explore the background to the donation of the "Disney collection" to the University of Cambridge, and the establishment of the Disney chair of archaeology. It will place the benefaction of Thomas Brand Hollis to the Reverend John Disney in the context of religious dissent in the late eighteenth century. The bequest included sculptures collected on the Grand Tour by Brand Hollis and his friend Thomas Hollis (a benefactor of Harvard and supporter of republican values).

John Disney, the son of the Reverend John Disney, was president of the Chelmsford Philosophical Society that embraced archaeological investigations in Essex. Disney's collection included material discovered in the Roman cemeteries on the west side of the colonia at Colchester during the construction of the County Hospital. Disney was also instrumental in helping the establishment of the Essex Archaeological Society, along with the Reverend John H. Marsden, the first Disney professor of archaeology.

Disney was involved with political reform and stood as a candidate in three parliamentary elections. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and supported some of the first demonstrations of photography in Essex.

Cambodian statues to be returned from New York

2013-05-03T22:49:00.001+01:00

Kneeling Attendant
Formerly New York MMA 1987.410 / 1992.390.1
www.metmuseum.org
© MMA

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has announced that it will be returning two statues to Cambodia ("Metropolitan Museum of Art to Return Two Khmer Sculptures to Cambodia", May 3, 2013, press release).

Tom Campbell, the Director, is quoted:

“The Museum is committed to applying rigorous provenance standards not only to new acquisitions, but to the study of works long in its collections in an ongoing effort to learn as much as possible about ownership history. This is a case in which additional information regarding the Kneeling Attendants has led the Museum to consider facts that were not known at the time of the acquisition and to take the action we are announcing today. In returning the statues, the Museum is acting to strengthen the good relationship it has long maintained with scholarly institutions and colleagues in Cambodia and to foster and celebrate continued cooperation and dialogue between us.”

The announcement sets a significant precedent for other museums that are presented with additional information about collecting histories.

What other museums have acquired material from the same donors or collectors? Will they, too, be reviewing their acquisitions?

The Met's "rigorous provenance standards" will also no doubt extend to the Bothmer bequest of pottery fragments. It has already been shown (from the few published images) that a connection has been made with a collection in Rome.

Nostell Priory and Context Matters

2013-04-16T22:51:00.003+01:00

Later this week I will be exploring the collecting history of an Attic black-glossed bolsal that formed part of the Nostell Priory collection inYorkshire. It probably formed part of an early 19th century collection in Italy. A study of the piece, with a companion in the British Museum, has reminded me of the importance of archaeological context. Where the was bolsal found? What were the associated objects? I doubt we shall ever know. It is possible to say something about the piece thanks to excavated examples from Athens.

Lee Rizzuto and the Getty

2013-04-15T10:30:00.000+01:00

Among the objects to be appearing in the forthcoming exhibition exploring ancient Sicily at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art is a terracotta given by Lee Rizzuto in 1979 (no. 119; inv. 79.AD.37).

In the same year Rizzuto gave a silver and gold bracelet that apparently came from Turkey (inv. 79.AM.36), a steatite goblet apparently from Turkey (inv. 79.AJ.51), an Anatolian pot with Geometric decoration (inv. 79.AJ.53), pots with Geometric decoration (inv. 79.AJ.49, 79.AJ.50), a silver beaker possibly from Iran (inv. 79.AJ.47), a Syro-hittite bronze statuette (inv. 79.AJ.44), a basalt half-figure (inv. 79.AJ.43), two steatite lamps apparently from Syria (inv. 79.AJ.45, 79.AJ.46), a bronze warrior possibly from Argos, Greece (inv. 79.AB.38), a Byzantine censer (inv. 79.AC.48), and a series of Roman fresco fragments, some with a sphinx (inv. 79.AG.39, 79.AG.40, 79.AG.41.1, 79.AG.41.2, 79.AG.41.3, 79.AG.41.4, 79.AG.41.5, 79.AG.42).

What are the full collecting histories of these pieces? How were they acquired by Rizzuto?

Max Gerchik and Sicily

2013-04-13T19:18:00.000+01:00

The image chosen to publicise the upcoming exhibition, "Sicily: Art and Invention Between Greece and Rome", at the Cleveland Museum of Art from September 2013 is a Sicilian terracotta head given to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1976. The Getty has issued a checklist of the exhibits that includes items returned from North American collections to Italy.

We know that Dr Max Gerchik was the donor of at least one item that was returned to Italy. We also know that he was the donor of several inscribed lead plaques that were allegedly found at Selinus on Sicily.

Both the Cleveland Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum have had to return objects to Italy. Both museums will want to avoid any further controversial decisions.

So when did Gerchik acquire this "Head of a Goddess"? Did he acquire it on the Beverly Hills market? For how long did it reside in his collection? Was the head from an "old Swiss collection"? What is the full collecting history of this piece?

Disney and Collecting Histories

2013-04-12T18:07:00.000+01:00

Readers of LM are very welcome to attend this lecture. I will be looking at the background to Dr John Disney and will explore how he became interested in archaeology. The lecture will develop my memoir on Disney for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

The ex-Steinhardt phiale from Sicily

2013-04-11T23:01:00.001+01:00

Earlier this week I noted the forthcoming exhibition of antiquities from Sicily that will open at the J. Paul Getty Museum this summer. Part of the Morgantina silver hoard will be on display (after its return from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art). I am grateful to Fabio Isman for drawing my eye to another important piece in the exhibition: the gold phiale apparently found near Caltavuturo (no. 89).

The story of the phiale is well documented (and see images). It was seized from Michael Steinhardt and returned to Italy.

Paul Barford on East Anglia

2013-04-10T22:35:00.001+01:00

Questions at UCS © David Gill

The UCS Heritage seminar welcomed Paul Barford to give a paper today. It was a good opportunity for me, and for those attending, to hear Paul articulate his views on the unrestricted hunt for portable archaeological objects. There appeared to be a mix of attendees from the archaeological service, the Portable Antiquities Scheme, museums, and the metal-detecting community.

My colleague Dr Ian Baxter and I were tweeting some of the key points. Here are some of them:

lack of clear conservation policy for the archaeological record
critical debate on artefact hunting missing from the archaeological community
the forum paper for the Papers of the Institute of Archaeology
under-reporting may be as high as 80% (though Norfolk may be as low as 25%)
the development and methodology of the Heritage Action counter
the disturbance of deep stratigraphy due to metal-detecting
the increasing use of metal-detectors that detect deeper and in a range of conditions
the intellectual consequences of loss of context

There was an extended time of questions, discussion and debate.

What could be done to improve the situation?
There seemed to be widespread dislike of the term 'treasure'. We were reminded that the focus is often on the metal rather than the archaeological importance.
Is legislative change important? Should reporting be compulsory?
Comparison was made with Greece where there are stricter controls and recording of finds. (This perspective was provided by Cambridge researcher Christos Tsirogiannis.)
Is the legal framework now outdated where once it was world leading?
10% of archaeological sites in Suffolk known from metal-detecting.
The importance of the 30 year relationship that had been developed between the archaeological and metal-detecting communities in East Anglia.
The impact of potato crops on archaeological sites.
Should PAS-style reporting be introduced for countries like Iraq?
English Heritage advice on metal-detecting.
Representative collections to be held by museums; acceptance of private collections.
Where should financial resources be directed in the present financial climate?
Positive media coverage of PAS.
ITV's 'Britain's Secret Treasures'should be seen as 'entertainment' rather than a factual programme.
The Crosby Garrett helmet and the failure to close loopholes in the present system.
The amount of money paid for treasure finds (and apparent lack of transparency).
The scheduling of archaeological sites (and areas around 'hoard' findspots). This led to a short discussion of the area where the Staffordshire Hoard was found.

These points should give a flavour of the paper as well as the subsequent discussion. They do not necessarily cover all of Paul's points or all of the questions.

I felt that the seminar brought together a range of positions in the debate. Paul offered a voice that is so often marginalised, overlooked or silenced. I very much hope that he will turn his notes into a published version.

Unsustainable digging around?

2013-04-09T10:30:00.000+01:00

It was good to discuss Paul Barford's forthcoming UCS Heritage Seminar with him yesterday. [All welcome at the seminar tomorrow, but please book in the normal way.] One of the topics is going to be the unsustainable damage to largely unrecorded archaeological sites. What knowledge is being lost?

One of the more unexpected lines of thought was the way that finds of recently surfaced portable antiquities are merely showing up as a scatter on maps. How far is this a useful way to think about context?

We also reflected on "public archaeology" and the media. How far do programmes that present archaeology as a hunt for "Secret Treasures" do our discipline harm?

There will be time for discussion, questions and answers at the end of Paul's presentation. It would be good to see readers of LM present in the audience.

Sicily at the Getty

2013-04-08T22:49:00.000+01:00

Head of Hades, about 400 - 300 B.C.
Source: J. Paul Getty Museum inv. 85.AD.105

The Getty has issued a list of the objects due to appear in its exhibition on Sicily: Art and Invention between Greece and Rome. [details]

The pieces from the Getty are (with some additional information supplied by me):

23. Incense Burner Supported by Nike. 86.AD.681. [no. 5] 'Restored from a number of fragments'. 'European Art Market'. [Which dealer?]

92. Head of Hades. From Morgantina. 85.AD.105. Formerly Robin Symes; Maurice Temepelsman. The head will be returning to Italy.

93. Head of goddess. 76.AD.34. Gift of Max Gerchik.

96. Footed dinos attributed to the Syleus Painter. 89.AE.73. [no. 5]. Attribution by J.R. Guy. 'Reconstructed from fragments'. 'European Art Market'. [Which dealer?]

98. Disk with a Head of Medusa (Oscillum). 71.AD.255.

106. Statuette of a woman with child. 71.AD.347

109. Statuette of a pig. 78.AD.346. Gift of David Collins.

117. Apulian Krater fragment attributed to the Black Fury Group. 86.AE.417. [no. 7] 'Walter and Molly Bareiss Collection'. [Bareiss no. 44, checklist no. 221] Attribution by A.D. Trendall.

119. Statuette of Odysseus under a ram. 79.AD.37. Gift of Lee Rizzuto.

121. Mixing Vessel with Odysseus under a ram. 96.AE.303. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. [Fleischman no. 289.]

135. Comic Mask of a Satyr. 96.AD.305. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. [Fleischman no. 291.]

142. Statuette of a Dancer Playing the Lyre. 73.AD.151

144. Sicilian Calyx krater attributed to the Group of Louvre K240. 96.AE.30. Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman. [Fleischman no. 64.]

It is significant that the Head of Hades (no. 92) is included. But what collecting histories will be provided for nos. 23 and 96? And what about the sources for nos 121, 135, and 144? Or no. 93?

The exhibition appears to be including the Morgantina silver hoard now in Aidone.

Coin Dealer Indicted

2013-04-03T18:23:00.001+01:00

The FBI have issued a press release about the indictment of a North American coin dealer on tax charges ("Coin Dealer Formerly from Hackensack Indicted on Federal Tax Charges", April 2, 2013).

[Gantcho] Zagorski owned and operated a business that sold ancient coins to domestic and international customers, primarily on eBay, from his residence in Hackensack. Zagorski, along with his wife and, at times, his daughter, operated the coin-selling business under the names Diana Coins, Paganecoins, and Diana Coins LLC. For calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008, Zagorski provided his tax preparer with false and fraudulent information by understating the amount of gross receipts and sales earned by his business. Zagorski then caused to be filed with the IRS those federal income tax returns for 2006, 2007, and 2008 containing that false and fraudulent information.

It will be interesting to see what else emerges from this case.

The Portable Antiquities of East Anglia

2013-04-02T10:01:00.001+01:00

Paul Barford will be leading a session for the UCS Heritage Seminar in April. Members of the seminar can look forward to a lively debate.

All welcome but attendees should contact Julie Barber (details on poster).

Copenhagen: return time?

2013-03-14T22:13:00.002Z

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen has been ignoring claims by Italy to return a substantial number of its acquisitions. The museum has ignored diplomatic pressure, and discussion in The New York Times. There has also been a response.

Chasing Aphrodite has now revisited the issue with a detailed discussion.

I would draw attention to the October 1997 interview with Jette Christiansen, curator at the Ny Carlsberg (and published by Vinnie Norskov).

What are your sources when acquiring (art market, collectors, etc.), or which are the most important?

As mentioned, objects were often offered to us. Some years ago we had good connections to an art dealer who brought many of the objects we acquired. On a few occasions we have tried to get hold of objects we knew were in private collections abroad. But until now we have not succeeded, have met with a refusal, or have had no answer at all to our request.

It appears that the "art dealer" was Robert Hecht.

When will the curators at the Ny Carlsberg Glytotek take the appropriate professional decision to call the Italian authorities to negotiate the return of the items?

Bothmer Fragments Linked to Rome

2013-03-08T13:39:00.002Z

Detail of Attic red-figured cup.
Fragments in the Villa Giulia and
the Bothmer collection, New York

In January 2012 it was announced that 40 fragments from the 10,000 or so bequeathed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art would be returning to Italy. So far only a very limited number of images have appeared, but last week Cambridge University researcher Christos Tsirogiannis told me that he had made an identification for some cup fragments.

Tsirogiannis spotted that the missing pentagonal shape from an Attic red-figured cup now resided in the Villa Giulia in Rome. The tondo scene shows a central volute-krater, with a satyr holding a kantharos, and a maenad to the right.

The fragment had been attributed to the 'Euaion painter', a decorator of pots well known to Bothmer. Several fragments are listed (by the Beazley Archive) in his collection (though not apparently this cup), and he donated other fragments to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Museum. For example, one cup in the Met was reconstituted after Bothmer donated a series of fragments from 1973 to 1989. The source of these fragments is undeclared. The fragments in the Getty were donated from 1981 to 1986.

Bothmer had also made connections with fragments in Paris and Dresden. So why did he overlook the Rome connection? Or had he made the connection, but had not wished to declare it?

And given his interest in the 'Euaion painter' is he likely to have overlooked the connection?

There are wider issues. When did the Villa Giulia fragment become separated from the rest of the cup? Clearly the Rome fragment was known in the early 20th century. But have the other fragments been residing unrecorded in some other collection? Or were they left in an Etruscan tomb in Tuscany? When did they enter the Bothmer collection? What was their source?

There are also 'Euaion painter' fragments from the former Robert Guy collection in Harvard. Do any fit with the fragments in the Bothmer collection?

And what are all the collecting histories of all these 'Euaion painter' fragments?

What associations will be provided as the Met starts to publish more of the Bothmer collection? And what is their plan to release images and details of this bequest?

It was the original intention of the 'artist' that the fragments be seen as part of a single cup. Will the Met be contacting the staff of the Villa Giulia to arrange the restoration of the cup?

I am grateful to Tsirogiannis for giving me permission to share this identification on Looting Matters.

Pot fragments matter

2013-03-05T23:14:00.003Z

Recently surfaced fragments of Athenian pots are significant. Consider the donors and vendors behind the restored pots returned to Italy from the J. Paul Getty Museum. Or the "missing fragments" from the Attic amphora returned from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Then there are the returned fragments returned to Italy from the Bothmer collection that apparently fitted pots already returned to Italy (not necessarily from the Met).

And what about the Harvard fragments?

It will soon become clear that wider narratives will emerge from the fragments.

Anglo-Saxon Context Matters

2013-03-01T19:21:00.002Z

I had a meeting at West Stow Anglo-Saxon village today with Dr Ian Baxter and Alan Baxter. We were looking at the way that finds from grave-groups were displayed in the site museum. Alan Baxter then showed us a display of similar material and explained that it was thanks to the contextualised funerary finds that it was possible to make sense of the decontextualised ones.

It was a timely reminder that there are intellectual consequences for "portablising" buried archaeological objects.