4 ms·

> Most of the plunder was taken back to Europe and either tucked away in private collections or presented as gifts to royal families. Queen Victoria of Britain

> Most of the plunder was taken back to Europe and either tucked away in private collections or presented as gifts to royal families. Queen Victoria of Britain was given a pet Pekingese dog, the first of its kind ever seen in Europe. Unabashed by its provenance, she named it Looty. The "looty" is going back to China via museum heists. The only way this art could be preserved in European collections is to temporarily remove it from museums and keep it hidden away. IMO, if China wants its looted art back they should reach out through official channels and negotiate their return.

chillacy 8y ago
This is the official policy: > ... David Cameron during a visit to India in 2010, when he was asked if Britain would ever return the [Kohinoor Diamond]. > "If you say yes to one you suddenly find the British Museum would be empty,” said the Prime Minister then. "I think I'm afraid to say, to disappoint all your viewers, it's going to have to say put."
- onemoresoop 8y ago
  It's a difficult thing to do and there are so many hidden strings and interests at stake but the reality is quite clear. A lot of things were looted and are in our western countries somehow illegally. IMO they should be returned to their countries of origin if evidence of that says so. If things were bought/sold and there are documents to attest that, they could stay.
  - onemoresoop 8y ago
    And illegally obtained art should be out of our museums, period. I wonder if, on the private market and not museum worthy, whether the prices for these would go down.
- qiqing 8y ago
  In the polite paraphrase of John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight: "I understand that you want the diamond, but the thing is that we have the diamond, you don't and we're going to keep having it forever. So in summary, finders keepers, go yourself. Cheerio." says Oliver, 'breaking down' former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's "integral legal argument". While referring to the crown on which the diamond now sits as an "elegant head sofa", Oliver calls Prime Minister David Cameron's response ("They're not having it back") as "petulant and childish" and expresses surprise that he didn't "lick the diamond to officially call dibs on it". He doesn't stop there. The comedian 'reasons' Britain's reluctance on returning the Kohinoor saying if they were to start giving back the artifacts they brought in from their former colonies, the British Museum would go empty. He also refers to the British Museum as "an active crime scene". Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/why-wouldnt-britain-return-the-kohinoor-heres-comedian-john-olivers-hilarious-take-on-it-273055-2015-11-17 https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/why-wouldnt-britain-retu...
kodablah 8y ago
> they should reach out through official channels and negotiate their return In some cases, they do (depending upon what you mean by official and negotiate): > In 2013, for instance, two of the famed zodiac heads, the rabbit and the rat, from the estate of the French designer Yves Saint Laurent, were handed over after a planned auction was scuttled. Officials in China told Christie's, the auction house, that if the heads were ever sold off, there would be "serious effects" on the firm's business. (Not long after the heads were returned, Christie's became the first international fine-art auction house to receive a license to operate independently in China.)

chillacy 8y ago

This is the official policy: > ... David Cameron during a visit to India in 2010, when he was asked if Britain would ever return the [Kohinoor Diamond]. > "If you say yes to one you suddenly find the British Museum would be empty,” said the Prime Minister then. "I think I'm afraid to say, to disappoint all your viewers, it's going to have to say put."

onemoresoop 8y ago
It's a difficult thing to do and there are so many hidden strings and interests at stake but the reality is quite clear. A lot of things were looted and are in our western countries somehow illegally. IMO they should be returned to their countries of origin if evidence of that says so. If things were bought/sold and there are documents to attest that, they could stay.
- onemoresoop 8y ago
  And illegally obtained art should be out of our museums, period. I wonder if, on the private market and not museum worthy, whether the prices for these would go down.
qiqing 8y ago
In the polite paraphrase of John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight: "I understand that you want the diamond, but the thing is that we have the diamond, you don't and we're going to keep having it forever. So in summary, finders keepers, go yourself. Cheerio." says Oliver, 'breaking down' former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's "integral legal argument". While referring to the crown on which the diamond now sits as an "elegant head sofa", Oliver calls Prime Minister David Cameron's response ("They're not having it back") as "petulant and childish" and expresses surprise that he didn't "lick the diamond to officially call dibs on it". He doesn't stop there. The comedian 'reasons' Britain's reluctance on returning the Kohinoor saying if they were to start giving back the artifacts they brought in from their former colonies, the British Museum would go empty. He also refers to the British Museum as "an active crime scene". Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/why-wouldnt-britain-return-the-kohinoor-heres-comedian-john-olivers-hilarious-take-on-it-273055-2015-11-17 https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/why-wouldnt-britain-retu...

kodablah 8y ago

> they should reach out through official channels and negotiate their return In some cases, they do (depending upon what you mean by official and negotiate): > In 2013, for instance, two of the famed zodiac heads, the rabbit and the rat, from the estate of the French designer Yves Saint Laurent, were handed over after a planned auction was scuttled. Officials in China told Christie's, the auction house, that if the heads were ever sold off, there would be "serious effects" on the firm's business. (Not long after the heads were returned, Christie's became the first international fine-art auction house to receive a license to operate independently in China.)