2,300-year-old Krater
These stories are becoming all too common … looted antiquities. According to Tom Mashberg’s article in The New York Times, investigators were sent evidence of a looted vase in the Met’s collection by Dr. Tsirogiannis … a forensic archaeologist who tracked the vase and wrote an article about it in 2014. After reviewing photos and other evidence sent to them in May they took action … issuing a warrant on July 24th. The following day, the Met hand delivered the ancient vase (purchased at Sotheby’s in 1989 for $90,000) to New York prosecutors.
Ultimately, the vase, used in antiquity for mixing water and wine, will be return to Italy; but, there is a lot more to the story and the characters involved. As values continue to increase, more and more of these ‘looted’ items are going to surface. The people would will suffer the most are those who bought them in good faith.
Source: Ancient Vase Seized From Met Museum on Suspicion It Was Looted – The New York Times