Quite aside from the ethical implications, no private individual today is ever going to get to own the Parthenon Sculptures. The closest you could get to having a piece of them in your own home is to have a high quality cast. Many casts were made at one time or another, but some are better than others – it depends a lot on which generation they are, in terms of how far removed they are from the original sculptures.

Nowadays the British Museum Shop makes resin casts. The horse of Selene appears in Charlton Heston’s garden at the end of the film Bowling for Columbine, and I happen to know that British TV presenter William G Stewart also has a similar piece in his garden.

Some of the best casts are those that were made by the Brucciani company. Laura Steel, a teacher in Classics at Northern Illinois University, acquired what is thought to be one of these casts, and she has now advertised it for sale on Ebay.

Its the sort of thing that should ideally go to a university or museum, but I would imagine that it would also be of interest to many private collectors too.

For those of you gulping at the price tag for a plaster cast, as she explains at the end of the auction notes, this is comparable to the values that other similar pieces have sold for in recent years.

Parthenon frieze slab cast by D Brucciani & Co

From:
Ebay

Full-sized Brucciani plaster copy of Parthenon frieze slab Athena Greek Greece
RARE and IRREPLACEABLE cast of one of the Elgin Marbles

Price:
US $7,500.00

Seller Notes: “Excellent used/vintage condition, with no visible flaws in the front surface. There is one larger chip in rear lower framing and a few tiny flakes from upper/lower edges (see photos).”

Regarding the piece for sale:
This piece is an irreplaceable, vintage, life-scale plaster copy of the East V Parthenon frieze slab depicting Athena and Hephaestus seated that was likely situated directly above the main entrance to the Parthenon (see photo for accepted scholarly placement of this slab within the frieze). The original is one of the Elgin Marbles held by the British Museum. While it would be even more ideal for potential buyers to see this piece in the (plaster) flesh, the photos should at least demonstrate that the cast is in excellent condition and is made in the traditional way, with un-sanded plastered strips along the back. It measures approximately 119 x 101 x 13 cm and appears to have metal framing, at least along the top edge, that would be strong enough to hang the piece on a wall surface without attaching any additional hardware.
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In the past many casts were made of the Parthenon Marbles – but a lot of them are now in a poor state, requiring restoration, after being abandoned for years. Its great, that in this case, the casts have not been abandoned, but are being used as a teaching tool.

From:
Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis

Plaster replicas of Parthenon frieze find second life at Herron

INDIANAPOLIS — Plaster replicas of the running frieze created to adorn the most iconic symbol of classical antiquity are once again teaching tools and objets d’art for certain students and professors at Herron School of Art and Design, part of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.

But this time around, second-generation casts of the frieze from Greece’s Parthenon are both a testimonial to the prominent role that Herron played in the training of past generations of professional artists, and a springboard to its multidisciplinary collaborations for future generations.
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Christies is auctioning plaster casts of various panels from the Parthenon Frieze. From the information given, it is unclear whether these are a first generation cast (or more probably a second or third generation cast) of the originals.

You can view more details on page 79 of the e-catalog for the auction (linked to from this page). There are also copies of some sculptures from the Acropolis that I noticed in the catalogue.

From:
Country Life

Take a piece of the Parthenon home
Friday, 5 October 2012
Kate Green

Christie’s is selling more than 350 items from James Perkins’ collection at Aynhoe Park, including a piece from the Parthenon in Athens

Eclectic artefacts amassed on ‘a modern grand tour’ will be sold at Christie’s South Kensington on October 9, when James Perkins, owner of Aynhoe Park, sells more than 350 items to make room for more pieces in his constantly evolving collection. There’s everything from an armadillo-shell helmet (estimated at £600-£900) to a stuffed walrus head, plus furniture and photography, but pride of sale is the magnificent Classical plaster sculpture.
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UC Berkeley is displaying casts of the Parthenon Frieze in the lobby of the building that houses their Classics department. It is not the only American university in the USA to house casts from the Parthenon, as there is at least one other that I’m aware of that also has a set.

From:
Berkleyside

Ancient Greek history appears in plaster cast form at Cal
February 16, 2011 11:15 am by Tracey Taylor

You no longer need to travel to the British Museum in London, or to Athens, to see at least some of the creative wonders of the Parthenon.

Last weekend saw the installation on the UC Berkeley campus of a series of plaster cast panels of the Parthenon Frieze in the main lobby of Dwinelle Hall, which houses the university’s Classics department.
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More information on the casts of the Parthenon sculptures in Edinburgh that are soon to be restored.

From:
The Scotsman

Wednesday, 17th September 2008
College carves out art grant for its forgotten sculptures
Published Date: 17 September 2008
By CATHERINE SALMOND

THEY may have been based on some of the world’s most famous and bitterly contested works of art, but until recently they were gathering dust in a city cupboard.

Now a collection of sculptures, which are one-off copies of the Elgin marbles, are to take pride of place at the Edinburgh College of Art – thanks to a £500,000 makeover.
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Numerous sets of casts have been made of the Parthenon Frieze. Complete sets of casts are currently the only way to see the frieze in its entirety, as the majority of it is currently split between Athens & the British Museum.

From:
Scotsman

Monday, 15th September 2008
‘Worthless’ casts to receive £½m revamp

A COLLECTION of 200-year-old plaster casts, once considered near-worthless copies of great Greek and Roman statues and carvings, have earned a £494,000 lottery grant.
The cash will enable the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) to conserve and restore them.

The casts have been used since the early 19th century as a teaching tool for students to practise drawing and painting. But they fell out of fashion with the advent of modern art programmes and were seen as having little intrinsic value.
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There are many copies of the Parthenon Sculptures about – some are better reproductions than others, depending on whether they were a first or later generation cast. But there is only one original set, which Greece hopes to be able to house in the New Acropolis Museum once it opens.

From:
Norwich Bulletin

Sunday, November 17, 2002
Slater’s Parthenon replicas impress — despite Greek snub
By DAVID PENCEK
Norwich Bulletin

NORWICH — Copies? We don’t want your copies. We have plenty of copies. We want the originals.

That’s how a spokesman from the U.S. Greek Embassy responded when asked by a reporter if Greece had any interest in borrowing the Slater Museum’s plaster-cast replicas of the disputed Parthenon marbles.

Greece wants the original marbles returned in time for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The originals have been housed in the British Museum in London since it acquired them from Lord Elgin in 1811.
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