Although some of the Lewis Chessmen are being loaned to Scotland, many people feel that they should be returned on a more long term arrangement.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Letters
Time to repatriate the Scottish chessmen
The Lewis Chessmen belong in Scotland, not England
Published: 12:01AM BST 16 Oct 2009

SIR – While it is fantastic to see 24 of the collection of 82 Lewis Chessmen go on tour in Scotland (report, October 2), it is now time for the return of all the 12th-century chessmen to the Western Isles.

The pieces, crafted from walrus ivory and whales’ teeth, were unearthed in 1831. Of the 93 chessmen, only 11 are in Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland, while 82 are in the British Museum in London. It is simply not good enough that they are occasionally lent back to the Western Isles. Ownership should pass to the people of these Isles, where they were found, and where they should be put on permanent display.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh

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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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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The British Museum regularly highlights the fact that their exhibits can be viewed free of charge, but rarely enters into any serious discussion of the actual merits of this.

It appears that many people are not in complete agreement over benefits of free entry.

From:
Daily Telegraph

There is no such thing as a free exhibition about the Zutons
Letters, July 28: The deluded notion of free museums
Published: 12:01AM BST 28 Jul 2009

SIR – If Michael Cattell (Letter, July 27) believes that entry to museums is free, he is sadly deluded.

Every penny given to museums is taken from individuals or employers through taxation.
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For many Greeks, the New Acropolis Museum is more than just a building – it has become a symbol of their pride in their country & their aspirations for their country.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Acropolis Museum: Athens unveils its bid for the Marbles
Greece’s New Acropolis Museum is a formidable rival to the British Museum and has renewed debate about the Elgin Marbles.
By Teresa Levonian Cole
Published: 5:00PM BST 30 Jun 2009

‘The opening of the New Acropolis Museum was one of the most emotional experiences of my life” says Tina Daskalantonakis, a Greek hotelier. “It is more than a museum – it is a symbol of national pride and hope for the future.”

The museum in question crouches 300 metres below the Acropolis. An angular behemoth of glass, steel, concrete and marble housing some 4,000 artefacts, it is the culmination of an idea first mooted by Konstantinos Karamanlis’s Conservative government in 1976 and, since the early 1980s, passionately advocated by the Socialist minister of culture Melina Mercouri: the creation of a home in which the Parthenon Marbles can be reunited and displayed to the world.
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The author of this article from the Daily Telegraph clearly seen no reason to congratulate the Greeks on the opening of the New Acropolis Museum. Instead, there arguments fall back on old tired incorrect statements about the Parthenon Sculptures.

To correct a few of the most heinous inaccuracies.

1. Far more than one or two British journalists have written positive articles having seen the New Acropolis Museum – in some cases those who previously objected strongly to the return of the Parthenon Marbles. Whether or not these trips were subsidised is irrelevant – some journalists have a level of integrity that the author of this piece clearly does not understand.
2. Elgin paid only very small amounts to acquire the Elgin Marbles – most of the cost was in shipping them back to Britain once they had been removed.
3. As Lord Elgin’s acquisition of the Marbls had dubious legal standing, then it follows that this liability is passed on to Parliament when they purchased the artefacts
4. The British Government purchased the Marbles through an Acto of Parliament – if there as the political will to do so, then returning them using a similar method should not present a major challenge
5. Lord Elgin did not act to save the Marbles – from letters he sent, it is clear that his original intention was to use them as decoration on his new home that was being built at Broomhall
6. It is unclear to anyone apart from the British Museum why the number of visitors who see something & the cost that they pay to see it should be the two most important factors in deciding an artefacts location. These facts are regularly stated, but I have never seen any real justification behind them to suggest how they actually back up the argument for restitution in any way.

These are but a few of the errors.

For a major newspaper to publish an article so full of inaccuracies merely damages its own reputation.

From:
Daily Telegraph

The Elgin Marbles will never return to Athens – the British Museum is their rightful home
The Greeks should erect a statue of Lord Elgin near the Parthenon to express their nation’s gratitude to him for saving the Marbles.
By Richard Dorment
Published: 4:39PM BST 30 Jun 2009

Having built this new museum for the Elgin Marbles, the Greeks have managed to rustle up one or two British journalists credulous or naïve enough to write articles calling for their return. But if anyone thinks the building is ever going to house anything other than the plaster casts that are on display there now, they are hopelessly out of touch with reality. There is virtually no chance that the director or trustees of the British Museum, now or in the future, will comply with this outlandish demand.

Let’s review the facts. Lord Elgin paid the enormous sum of £39,000 to acquire the marbles, and was careful to obtain documents from the Turkish Government approving their removal from Greece, which had then been part of the Ottoman Empire for 350 years. Since Parliament legally purchased the marbles from Lord Elgin in 1816, the British Museum’s title to them is unassailable. The Greeks know this perfectly well – otherwise, instead of pulling this PR stunt, they would be suing Britain in the European courts.
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More coverage of the news that traces of original paint have been discovered on the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Parthenon was covered in colourful paint
The Parthenon temple in Athens was once painted with splashes of colour, according to a new study.
By Chris Irvine
Published: 7:00PM BST 17 Jun 2009

New tests on the stone have found that the marble was once covered with shades of blue, while it also thought red, green and gold were used.

By shining red light onto the marble, Dr Giovanni Verri identified an ancient pigment known as Egyptian blue, used until the year 800AD.
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Since the introduction of the Human Tissue Act, Aboriginal Australians have had a huge number of successes in retrieving artefacts from British Institutions. If other restitution cases are to be successful there are many lessons that can be learned from observing the various steps that led to this current situation with regards to Aboriginal artefacts.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Museum returns old Aboriginal skull to Australia
The skull of an indigenous Aboriginal Australian taken from the country 100 years ago and kept by a British museum has been handed back.
Last Updated: 7:55PM BST 13 May 2009

Little is known about the remains, thought to date back to the 19th century, which were returned to members of the Ngarrindjeri during a ceremony in Liverpool on Wednesday.

The remains were bought from Dr William Broad, of Liverpool, in 1948 after he visited Australia between 1902 and 1904 and published works on skeletal remains in the country.
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The New Acropolis Museum opens next month, but opinion is divided on whether the Elgin Marbles should be returned from the British Museum to complete its main exhibit.

From:
Daily Telegraph (UK)

Greek government unveils new home for Elgin Marbles
Fresh demands for the return of the Elgin Marbles are accompanying the launch next month of the £115 million Acropolis Museum, which has a reserved space for the world’s most famous piece of classical statuary.
By Andrew Pierce in Athens
Last Updated: 12:02PM BST 11 May 2009

The 270,000 sq ft museum is being established as a home for the 160-metre long strip of marble that adorned the Parthenon until 1801. The museum, which stands just 400 metres from the Parthenon, opens in June – three decades after the building was first proposed.

Antonis Samaras, the minister for culture and Athletics said: “The opening of the Acropolis Museum is a major world event. June 20th will be a day of celebration for all civilised people, not for Greeks alone. I want the Britons especially to consider the Acropolis Museum as the most hospitable place for them.”
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If stuff has been looted in recent times, it appears that it is imperative that it is returned to its rightful owners. Unfortunately, older cases are regularly brushed aside with the notion that we should accept their legitimacy (despite no clear reasons to do so). Where the situation warrants such measures, then any return of artefacts is to be welcomed. Consistency across all cases would be even better though.

From:
Daily Telegraph

Looted Afghan treasure to go on show
Afghan archaeological treasures thousands of years old are to go on display in Kabul after being rescued from smugglers passing through British airports.
By Ben Farmer in Kabul
Last Updated: 5:44PM BST 22 Apr 2009

More than 3,000 antiquities have been returned to Afghanistan after being confiscated by British customs officers and identified by the British Museum.

Situated at the crossroads of Asia and washed by centuries of trade, migration and invasion, Afghanistan has one of the richest archaeological heritages in the world.
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In a change from looking at current news articles, I have come across two interesting pieces about the Parthenon Marbles from the New York Times in 1890.

If you skim over the rather sycophantic writing style used in the articles, there are a number of interesting aspects to these pieces – firstly, most of the arguments then are exactly the same as they are now – & are answered just as clearly then as they are now.

Interestingly, the two papers in the UK pressing for the return of the marbles were the London Standard (now the Evening Standard) & the Daily Telegraph – two of the papers that are now generally seen as opposing restitution.

Finally, the argument at that time seems in many ways more admirable than it is now – there was no consideration that anything should be asked for in return, & it was suggested that Britain ought to bear any costs of the return – that they were the ones to be doing the honourable thing, rather than getting bogged down in negotiations & exchanges.

The fact that similar argument for return were being used over one hundred years ago ought to finally convince those people who suggest that the clamours for the restitution of the marbles is only a recent phenomenon (with the implication being that if they ignore it then it will go away again).

Read scans of the original articles by following the links below.

New York Times, 21st December 1890

New York Times, 29th December 1890

The Daily Telegraph looks at how the heads being auctioned from Yves Saint Lauren’s collection came to leave China in the first place. In response to this auction, China is now tightening regulation on import & export of artefacts from China.

From:
Daily Telegraph Blogs

So who did loot those French-Italian animal heads?
Posted By: Richard Spencer at Feb 25, 2009 at 09:04:00 [General]
Posted in: Foreign Correspondents

Not surprisingly, the Chinese government and people have been unable to persuade the French or Christie’s to stop the sale of two bronze animal heads looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing.

The heads – the rabbit and the rat – are part of the Yves St Laurent collection, being sold by his former lover and business partner, Pierre Berge. They go under the hammer later today (that’s Wednesday). Read the rest of this entry »