It seems that other than being returned to their original locations, looted artefacts suffer one of three fates – they are either kept in museums with no chance of return, they are lost forever, or they enter private hands & are exchanged between collections on occasion – a tantalising flash of stolen property in front of the original owners eyes. If it is purchased back by the original owners at this point, then it in some way validates the action of looting – on the other hand, if they do not buy it, then they are no closer to regaining possession & in most cases someone else makes a profit.

This case is of course made more interesting the looting was done by another Lord Elgin – the son of the one who took the Marbles from Athens.

From:
The Guardian

Chinese fury at sale of plundered treasures
* Tania Branigan in Beijing
* The Guardian,
* Monday November 3 2008

The row spans two continents and more than 140 years. But it has boiled up again following the involvement of a fashion legend and an eminent auction house.

Chinese officials are fuming at plans to sell national treasures from an imperial palace sacked and burned by British and French forces during the second opium war. One described the staggering estimated price of the objects – around £9m each – as “robbery”.
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An exhibition about the New Acropolis Museum has been running in Beijing since February.

During July though, in the run up to the Olympics, many more exhibits were added & a catalogue was produced to explain about both the museum & some of its contents that were on display.

This catalogue (in English, Greek & Mandarin) can be downloaded from the New Acropolis Museum’s website here.

The British Museum’s statements regarding the Elgin Marbles could well have an impact on many other items in their collection that people want returned.

From:
Straits Times

British Museum won’t return any of its stolen cultural relics
The Dunhuang Cave relics will stay at the British Museum following its refusal to return Greece’s Elgin Marbles, say officials
By Alfred Lee

LONDON – The British Museum is unlikely to return China’s Dunhuang Cave treasures and other stolen cultural relics following its statement yesterday that it has decided to not give back Greece’s famous Elgin Marbles.

The Marbles were looted from the Parthenon in Athens in the early 1800s by Lord Elgin, the British Ambassador to Greece.
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