[Northkeep] Antiquities Trade

[Alcyoneus]

Here's another example (from a guy in Sweden on the AA):

He has a friend that goes on trips for a museum.  He was in Egypt and 
visiting a remote town, where there were no other Europeans, and was a 
local celebrity because of that.  As he was leaving, he met another 
European who was just arriving, and they exchanged business cards.  When 
the newcomer found out what he did for a living, he acted a little strange, 
and beat an impromtu retreat.  The Swede thought this was a bit odd, but 
went on his way.

Later, he happened to look at the business card he was given.  The man was 
a buyer for a well known auction house, along the lines of 
Sotheby's/Christies/etc.  Now the thing that caused him to raise an eyebrow 
was that the primary industry in this very remote town was the production 
of new copies of ancient antiquities.

What was the buyer for an auction house doing there???

I've bought a few trinkets off of ebay (buckles, buttons, etc).  Some from 
England, and some from areas near Augsberg.  At the right price, I'll get 
them, but I wouldn't pay a high price for something I think might have been 
made yesterday.  This is always possible.  There are people in China that 
are VERY adept at faking antiquity.

I've also bought a few bronzes from Martin's Minerals at gem shows.  At 
$30-40, I kind of doubt that they are actually 17th C bronzes, but they are 
worth that to me new.

The ethics of collecting, and the sale of antiquities gets rather 
complicated.  What shape would the Elgin Marbles be in if they had been 
left in situ?  Does the market promote looting?  Sometimes.  There are also 
people that make good money honestly selling copies labeled as such.  There 
are also museums with hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of 
virtually identical ancient kitch that have no archaeological value in 
themselves which are collecting dust in basements, and will never be seen 
by anyone for any purpose.  If they sold some of these on the legal market, 
would they be able to better care for or display more of what they 
have?  Probably.

Alcyoneus


>Message: 3
>Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:42:27 -0400
>From: HNiewoehner at netscape.net (Hugh Niewoehner)
>Subject: RE: [Northkeep] Period artifacts for sale
>To: northkeep at ansteorra.org (The Barony of Northkeep)
>Message-ID: <4EEBE9F1.140AFEBE.360A8B88 at netscape.net>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
>Yeah, Ismet and I wondered about it as well.  Particularly the ushapti's 
><sp?>.  The Egyptians tend to be really anal about their antiquities. 
>(Understandable)  On the other hand Ismet pointed out that even a small 
>site could yield hundreds of the things so their export might not be so 
>tightly controlled.
>
>Example:
>There used to be a guy who would show up at Medfair to merchant papyrus 
>art, clothes, etc. from Egypt.   He was an Army Officer who regularly went 
>there officially.  Said he'd made friends with a bunch of bedoin who'd 
>bring him things the desert regularly turned up.  That year he had a small 
>selection of spear points and a few small 
>coins.  Authentic?  Probably.  Legal exports?  Could be argued by lawyers 
>for years.
>
>    Damon