5 ms·

Auction houses have some very shady practices sometimes, and I imagine it's very difficult for buyers to navigate what is legal and what's not - but also in thi

Auction houses have some very shady practices sometimes, and I imagine it's very difficult for buyers to navigate what is legal and what's not - but also in this case, it kind of seems like maybe they should have known.

imglorp 6y ago
They knew. Their own expert lawyer warned them in 2010. It's also their MO apparently. A second case involves Egyptian papyri. They also mis-declare things to get them into the country (ie calling them "tiles" in customs declarations). So, lying and stealing. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/nyregion/hobby-lobby-artifacts-smuggle-iraq.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/nyregion/hobby-lobby-arti... 2. https://www.thedailybeast.com/hobby-lobby-scandal-widens-as-museum-of-the-bible-admits-oxford-prof-sold-illicit-papyri-to-green-family https://www.thedailybeast.com/hobby-lobby-scandal-widens-as-... 3. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/09/a-scandal-in-oxford-the-curious-case-of-the-stolen-gospel https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/09/a-scandal-in-ox...
- _bxg1 6y ago
  The comical part is that their very interest in the items is based in a religion that's nominally very opposed to lying and stealing. Fetishizing artifacts is apparently more important to their faith than doing what's right.
  - prutschman 6y ago
    Opposed to lying, stealing, and worshiping artifacts, no less.
wl 6y ago
It's not very complicated to know what's legal and what's not. Was it exported from the country of origin prior to 1970? Legal. Exported with the permission of the government at the time? Legal. The problem here was fraudulent provenance documents. Ideally, every item that goes up for auction would have its provenance investigated. In practice, that's too expensive for the auction houses.