Confiscated from Phoenix Ancient Art
The Antiquities Trafficking Unit, recently formed by the New York District Attorney, is moving along at a brisk pace. Earlier this month, the team seized 6 artifacts from Phoenix Ancient Art (valued at $450K) and another 10 objects from collector Michael Steinhardt (the retired billionaire hedge fund manager). A number of these items have now been matched to the confiscated archives of Medici, Becchina and Symes-Michaelides.
It appears that the buying and selling of looted artifacts has been going on for years (decades/centuries) and I am sure that these recent seizures are just the tip of the iceberg. Going forward, there will be many more unhappy collectors who bought their items in good faith.