Tessera

New Case: The Lava Treasure, contributed by Patrick Boyle. The case of the Lava Treasure reveals the challenges of repatriating looted shipwreck treasure, especially when the wreck itself has never been found.

Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 4w ago

NEWS: Erin Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social takes a deep look at Hicham and Ali Aboutaam’s antiquities gallery Phoenix Ancient Art, the source of 9 looted artifacts recently seized from The Met, worth nearly $5 million, as well as hundreds more over the years. hyperallergic.com/why-do-so-ma...

Why Do So Many Museums Hold a Convicted Antiquity Dealer’s Treasures?

After The Met returned a Roman bust connected to Phoenix Ancient Art, the question of what will happen to other works sold by the gallery to dozens of US institutions remains open.

hyperallergic.com

Among the details in the DA's latest repatriation press release is that an auction house disguised a red-flag name of a known trafficker of Iraqi antiquities (Hassan Rihani) by describing pieces as from the "R. Family Collection." Genius! They'll never know! manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-an...

Screenshot of text reading "A Sumerian Gypsum Male Worshipper and the Sumerian Gypsum Female Worshipper, dating to Iraq’s Early Dynastic II Period, approximately 2750–2600 B.C.E., are among the earliest known sculptural depictions of the human figure in the round. Both sculptures first appeared on the market in 2015 after Ariadne Galleries sold them as part of the “Rihani Family Collection.”Thereafter, this Office seized and repatriated eleven antiquities smuggled by Hassan Rihani from Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Syria. Earlier this year, an auction house offered both statues for sale, changing the provenance to “R. Family Collection.”Nonetheless, this Office identified both statues as stolen and received a warrant for their seizure in June 2026."

News: The Manhattan DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit just announced the return of 59 more looted antiquities, valued at more than $600,000, to the people of Italy, Iraq, and Indonesia. They include 45 more Italian objects seized from the Met…

NYT: Decades Late,The American Museum of Natural History said it would repatriate 2,700 hair clippings to tribes under NAGPRA. The clippings were originally collected by anthropologists for an installation at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/a...

Decades Late, Museum Scrambles to Return 2,700 Native Remains

nytimes.com

MOLA @museumofloot.bsky.social · last mo.

New case: Male and female terracotta heads from Iraq, contributed by Tai Sherman and reviewed by Roma Aatifi. These 2 Babylonian heads, ca. 2000–1600 BCE, were among three antiquities repatriated from the US to Iraq in 2025.

NEWS: Manhattan’s Antiquarium Fine Ancient Arts Gallery has returned to Cambodia 20 artifacts acquired from Douglas Latchford between 1995 and 2005, according to The New York Times, citing a forfeiture complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on June 25. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/a...

New York Gallery Surrenders 20 Artifacts Thought Looted From Cambodia

nytimes.com

MOLA @museumofloot.bsky.social · last mo.

New case, contributed by Lisa Duffy-Zeballos: Moche Gilded Mask Ornament On May 15, 2025, the Manhattan DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit returned 8 Pre-Columbian antiquities to Peru, including this Moche gilded copper mask ornament looted from Loma Negra and dating to about 400 BCE.

New Case: A fragment of a fresco from Paestum's Tomb 53, contributed by Jason Felch.

News: Cambodia has recovered three more looted sculptures from New York, including two seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that were trafficked by gallery owner Doris Wiener and seized this year. Details below >

New Case: A Palestinian cosmetic spoon, contributed by Michela Herbert. This ivory cosmetic spoon from the Assyrian period, dating c. 800—700 BCE, was allegedly looted from an Iron Age Jewish tomb at the site of El Kom, near Hebron in the West Bank.

New Case: Horse and Boar bronze heads from the Old Summer Palace, Beijing. Contributed by Lisa Duffy-Zeballos. This case documents the return of two more of the original twelve zodiac heads that formed part of the water clock in the gardens of the Old Summer Palace.

News: Manhattan DA returned 20 cultural objects valued at more than $100k to Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, and New Zealand. The objects had been laundered through museum donations in an alleged tax-fraud scheme by Subhash Kapoor. manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-an...

D.A. Bragg Announces First-Ever Return Of Antiquities To Pacific Island Nations

“I am thrilled that we are able to make these historic returns,” said District Attorney Bragg. “These incredible objects have been in New York illegally for far too long, and I commend our team for th...

manhattanda.org

New Case: An embroidered panel of Saint Vigilius, contributed by Lisa Duffy-Zeballos. This 14th-century embroidery, one of six panels from the archbishop’s vestments showing the death of St. Vigilius, was stolen from the Sacristy of the Cathedral of Trent between 1939 and 1944.

New Case: Gweagal Aboriginal spears, contributed by Madalyn Grant. This case demonstrates that even so-called utilitarian objects taken during the British Empire's rampant collecting continue to have deep significance for descendant communities.

New Case: Neo-Assyrian Gold Earrings, contributed by Isabelle Marie Gomez. When the Iraq Museum was looted during the US invasion of Baghdad in April 2003, this ancient pair of earrings disappeared, along with tens of thousands of other artifacts.

New Case: An Etruscan bronze statuette of Herakles, contributed by @jasonfelch.bsky.social. On January 7, 1964, thieves broke into the Museo Archeologico Oliveriano in Pesaro, Italy, and stole dozens of ancient artifacts, including this Etruscan statuette of Hercules from the 6th century BCE.

New Case: Bayeux Tapestry fragments, contributed by Lisa Duffy-Zeballos In 2023, officials at the Schleswig-Holstein Federal State Archives in Germany discovered two fragments taken from the Bayeux Tapestry.

New Case: The Le Prince de Conty Hoard, contributed by Patrick Boyle:

NEWS: The Manhattan DA has returned 657 antiquities to India, worth an estimated $14 million. The pieces were recovered during investigations into alleged antiquities trafficker Subhash Kapoor and convicted trafficker Nancy Wiener manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-an...

D.A. Bragg Announces The Return Of More Than 650 Antiquities To The People Of India

“The scale of the trafficking networks that targeted cultural heritage in India is massive, as demonstrated by the return of more than 600 pieces today,” said District Attorney Bragg. “There is unfort...

manhattanda.org

New Case: Apulian Volute Krater by the Underworld Painter, contributed by Zach Beier: In 2012, the Dallas Museum of Art returned seven antiquities to Italy, including this 4th century BCE krater with scenes of the Labors of Hercules attributed to the Underworld Painter, a Greek vase painter.

Lynda Albertson @sauterne.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New Case: 8 Hispano-Chalcidic Helments, contributed by Lisa Duffy-Zeballos. This helmet was part of a group of eight Hispano-Chalcidic helmets looted from an Iron Age site near Zaragoza, Spain.

S. Vijay Kumar, co-founder of the India Pride Project, pointed out the following @timesofindianews.bsky.social article about a stolen grey stone stela of Padmapani last seen for sale at Galerie Zacke in Vienna. (1 of several) timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/...

Artefact seized at B’luru airport turns out to be stolen Nepalese antiquity | Bengaluru News - The Times of India

Bengaluru: The interception of a consignment declared as a ‘grey stone stele of Padmapani' by the Air Cargo Commissionerate at Bengaluru airport five .

timesofindia.indiatimes.com