A representative from the British Museum is going to discuss the Cyrus Cylinder in Iran. This seems to indicate that Iran’s threats to cease cooperation if the issue was not dealt with by the institution has at least had some success.

From:
Press TV (Iran)

UK official visits Iran over Cyrus cylinder
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:34:44 GMT

A British Museum representative is to head to Tehran in a bid to negotiate with Iranian officials over lending the Cyrus cylinder inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform.

“The director of the Middle East department at the British Museum, Sheila Canby, is scheduled to visit Tehran so as to address the matter. The 2,500-year-old clay cylinder was to be temporarily handed over to Iran in September. The British Museum however did not honor its pledge citing developments after Iran’s election in June,” Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) Hamid Baqaei said.
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The dispute over the Cyrus Cylinder continues, with Iran hoping that their threats of ceasing other cooperation with the British Museum will re-initiate the talks. The question has to be asked though why such actions are necessary in the first place & whether the British Museum will carry out its promise & allow the loan to take place.

From:
Press TV (Iran)

Iran’s ultimatum on Cyrus cylinder worries UK
Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:26:46 GMT

The British Museum has informed Iran in a letter that a delegation will be sent to Tehran to discuss the loaning of the Achaemenid Cyrus cylinder to Iran.

The clay Cyrus Cylinder is inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform with an account by Cyrus II, king of Persia (559-530 BC) and is considered as the world’s first charter of human rights.
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An exhibition of Chinese artefacts in Taiwan is opening as planned, but it is overshadowed by Taiwan’s unwillingness to reciprocate the loan for fear that artefacts will be seized by China because there is no law in place to give legal protection that they will not be. This is however, unlike some similar cases, as much a reflection of the nature of the tensions between China & Taiwan as it is on the relative risk of the exhibition taking place.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Taiwan and China at loggerheads over treasured artworks
The opening of a historic exhibition of Chinese cultural artefacts in Taiwan has been overshadowed by the refusal of Taiwanese authorities to allow its own collection to be displayed in China.
By Jonathan Liew
Published: 9:36AM BST 12 Oct 2009

The Palace Museum in Beijing has lent 37 pieces to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, for an exhibition of artefacts belonging to the 18th-century Chinese emperor Yongzheng, which opened this week.

However, the director of the Taipei museum said that it would not reciprocate, for fear that any works that it sent to China would be seized.
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Further coverage of the tension between Iran & the British Museum over the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder.

From:
Press TV (Iran)

British Museum cancels artifact loan to Iran
Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:22:59 GMT

The British Museum is refusing to loan the Achaemenid Cyrus cylinder to Iran, citing the country’s post-election political state, a report says.

A deal to loan the ancient clay cylinder in return for a number of Iranian treasures dating back to the time Safavid King Shah Abbas was reached between the Iranians and the director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor.
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More coverage of Iran’s threat’s to cease co-operation with the British Museum if the dispute over the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder is not resolved.

From:
Fars News Agency

15:30 | 2009-10-08
Iran Warns British Museum over Cyrus Cylinder

TEHRAN (FNA)- Tehran announced that it would cease cooperation with the British Museum in London until it loans the Cyrus the Great Cylinder to the National Museum of Iran.

The clay cylinder is inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform with an account by Cyrus II, king of Persia (559-530 BC). The Cyrus Cylinder is described as the world’s first charter of human rights.
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The vice president of Iran has issued a warning to cease all co-operation with the British Museum if they do not stop procrastinating over the planned loan of the Cyrus Cylinder. This move echoes the efforts by Egypt to escalate their dispute with the Louvre over disputed artefacts.

From:
Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies

Iran’s Vice President Threatens the British Museum
Wednesday, 07 October 2009 18:31

LONDON, (CAIS) — The Islamic Republic vice president who is also the director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (ICHTO) has threatened to cease the cooperation between the National Museum in Tehran and the British Museum in London, if the Cyrus the Great Cylinder is not loaned to Iran, reported the Persian service of the Aryan Heritage (Miras-e Ariya) on Wednesday.

While visiting the Iran’s National Museum, Hamid Baqaee told journalists: “The BM uses the current political situation in Iran as an excuse not to loan the cylinder to the National Museum.”
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Some further coverage of the news that some of the Lewis Chessmen will be loaned to Scotland temporarily, but that they will definitely not be returning long term. As expected, many are not happy with this decision by the British Museum.

From:
Press and Journal

Letters Page
Published: 02/10/2009
Lewis Chessmen returning

SIR, – I refer to your story (October 1) about the Lewis Chessmen returning to Scotland.

Once again, the authorities have graced us with their kindness, and agreed to “lend” the nation of Scotland her own items of cultural significance. How thoroughly decent of them.

The Scottish Government should be applauded and criticised in equal measure. We have seen the Stone of Destiny, arguably Scotland’s most important historical and cultural item, return to its rightful place, but with steel shackles attached. And now, some more of the Lewis Chessmen return to their adopted homeland, but please do not get comfortable, as England wants them back.
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The British Museum Act forbids the British Museum from de-accessioning artefacts from its collection, unless they are duplicates of other items or damaged to the extent of being worthless. Attempts to legally circumvent it have been unsuccessful. This fact is regularly used as a wall by the British Museum when anyone asks to discuss the reunification of the Elgin Marbles – with the statement that even if they wanted to return them they couldn’t.

A solution to this has been put forward in the past by the Greek Government, suggesting that the sculptures could instead be located in the New Acropolis Museum on a long term loan – an arrangement that is supported by many in Britain. The British Museum has in the past avoided serious discussion of this, by stating that the concept of long term loans is oxymoronic – suggesting that a loan for a long duration is no longer a loan & essentially constitutes ownership, making it impossible.

A few weeks ago, I covered one artefact – currently in the British Museum on long term loan. It appears though that in their collection are many other similar cases, such as the chalice from Lacock detailed in the article below, which has been on loan to the British Museum since the 1960s. Clearly long term loans are a lot easier to contemplate when you are the recipient rather than the owner – but whatever point of view one takes on that, it is clear that long terms loans are very definitely possible.

From:
Daily Telegraph

£2 million communion chalice could save church roof
A church appealing to raise money for a new roof has had its prayers answered after one of its silver communion chalices was valued at £2 million
Published: 7:00AM BST 28 Sep 2009

The medieval cup, which stands just a few inches high, was described by experts as one of the best-preserved specimens of its kind anywhere in the world.

It has been used by countless generations of worshippers at St Cyriac’s Church in the village of Lacock, Wilts, since the 1400s. But until now the chalice – on loan to the British Museum since the 1960s – has never been accurately valued.
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For some time, Greece has suggested that the return of the Elgin Marbles could be made more easily possible by a long term / semi-permanent loan. On a regular basis though it is suggested that this does not resemble what is normally described as a loan – therefore it is unworkable & merely restitution via the back door. Some silver platters have just been returned to Switzerland – not something directly relevant to this case. What is interesting though is that although they were owned by St George Church at Hanover Square in London, they were held by the British Museum on permanent loan. So, whulst they might claim that the concept of a permanent loan is oxymoronic & refuse to enter into serious discussions, it appears that when the situation occurs in reverse thewy are perfectly happy with accepting such an unworkable proposition.

From:
Swissinfo

August 26, 2009 – 3:21 PM
History returns on a silver platter

Four silver plates nearly five centuries old have been repatriated from Britain to Switzerland.

The pieces, created by Swiss Renaissance painter Urs Graf in 1519, were purchased by the Basel History Museum and the Swiss National Museum from the British Museum for £400,000 (SFr694,000).
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The British Museum continually rejects any mention of a long term loan of the Parthenon Sculptures, describing it as unworkable. In the world of museums however such a wide variety of loans are always underway, that to reject such a suggestion as a matter of course is really just avoidance of entering serious discussion of the issue.

From:
Guardian

Art on the move: curators reveal the art world’s secret merry-go-round
The growth in blockbuster exhibitions travelling the globe means more art than ever is in transit, under a shroud of strict secrecy – but how does it make the journey?
Noni Stacey
Wednesday 12 August 2009 17.30 BST

A blockbuster exhibition often showcases an artist’s work or offers a new interpretation of an era, but it shows us only part of the story. Look closely at a label on the gallery wall and you’ll notice a little note saying “On loan from …”. The larger touring exhibitions read like a high-fashion social diary, galloping across the globe from New York to Paris, London to Tokyo, while smaller shows criss-cross their way from Pittsburgh to Bogotá, Figueres to Melbourne. Art travels around the world in myriad ways: in and out of galleries and auction houses, to and from private collections. The question is: how does it get there?

My journey begins at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where Anna Jackson, deputy keeper of the Asia department, has been delving into the royal collections of India’s maharajas over the last 18 months. She’s preparing for the museum’s autumn exhibition, Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, which will open in October 2009. The original idea was floated more than two years ago, and the museum officially announced the show some months later. Jackson first set out for India in February 2008, to see what treasures the royal collections would yield.
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More coverage of Greece’s statements that rejected any potential loan deal on the Elgin Marbles if the likely preconditions from the British Museum were part of the package.

From:
The Guardian

Greek fury at Elgin marbles ‘loan deal’
Queen turns down invitation to opening of major new museum in Athens built to house Acropolis treasures
Helena Smith, Athens
The Observer, Sunday 14 June 2009

A bitter new row over ownership of the Elgin marbles has erupted, threatening to eclipse the inauguration this week of a major new museum in Athens designed to house the contested masterpieces.

Just days before the opening of the €130m (£110m) New Acropolis Museum, officials in Athens and London were this weekend engaging in barbed exchanges over the classical treasures.
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Without further information, it seems to me that the latest story regarding the rejection of a potential loan of the Parthenon Marbles does not make sense. There was never a loan offer as such – everything seems to be based on the prerequisites laid out by the British Museum in many previous statements on what conditions would need to be met before a loan could take place (not specifically of the Parthenon Marbles – in theory it would be the same with any artefact). This situation has not changed, so is hardly newsworthy, although the Marbles are obviously on the agenda for the press this week with the imminent opening of the New Acropolis Museum in a few days time.
Further to the above point though, it is not clear that there was never any loan offer made by the British Museum. Even if it is take as an assumed offer based on other statements, this does not sound very definite, as many other potential loans may meet the prerequisite condition, but then be rejected for other reasons.

From:
Bloomberg News

Greece Rejects British Museum’s Terms for Elgin Marbles Loan
By Maria Petrakis

June 11 (Bloomberg) — Greece said it won’t accept the British Museum’s conditions for allowing the Elgin Marbles, a collection of disputed ancient artworks, to go on display at the New Acropolis Museum.

Culture Minister Antonis Samaras said the museum’s loan condition — that Greece acknowledge the fifth-century B.C. antiquities as the property of the British Museum — would be unacceptable to any Greek government.
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