Another little news round-up because things are shaking, my friends! I, for one, am happy about it. Let's start off with the most gladdening of the news, shall we?
Christie's withdraws disputed Aphrodite statue from auction
Well over two weeks ago, I posted on an ancient statue of Aphrodite of dubious provenance about to be put up for auction at Christie's. Dr. Tsirogiannis, who works as a researcher at the University of Oxford, sent a written report to Interpol and New York Police Department about the statue which appears to be identical to that found in the confiscated archives of Robin Symes, of who 93% of the antiquities sold were illegal.
Christie's withdraws disputed Aphrodite statue from auction
Well over two weeks ago, I posted on an ancient statue of Aphrodite of dubious provenance about to be put up for auction at Christie's. Dr. Tsirogiannis, who works as a researcher at the University of Oxford, sent a written report to Interpol and New York Police Department about the statue which appears to be identical to that found in the confiscated archives of Robin Symes, of who 93% of the antiquities sold were illegal.
I am pleased to report that Christie's withdrew the unprovenanced Roman marble figurine from auction last week (October 25). On the occasion of this small victory, the Archaeological News Network present a statement/discussion (posted just before Christie's withdrew the statue) from the European Association of Archaeologists and authored by Dr. Christos Tsirogiannis from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, who spotted the piece that is well worth the read. It goes into the details of the statue and Symes. You can read it here.
Row over China's Terracotta Warriors
In that same blog post, I talked about the Terracotta Warriors of China and the recently formed theory that the 8,000 statues may have been crafted under the guidance of ancient Hellenic sculptors in 3rd Century BC. Well, the theory has been causing quite the rumble lately! Questioning the warrior's origins touches on deep sensitivities, as many take pride in China's early discovery of world-changing inventions, from gunpowder to the compass and movable type. At the same time its history with the West is fraught with a sense of humiliation over the colonies and concessions established in the 19th century.
In that same blog post, I talked about the Terracotta Warriors of China and the recently formed theory that the 8,000 statues may have been crafted under the guidance of ancient Hellenic sculptors in 3rd Century BC. Well, the theory has been causing quite the rumble lately! Questioning the warrior's origins touches on deep sensitivities, as many take pride in China's early discovery of world-changing inventions, from gunpowder to the compass and movable type. At the same time its history with the West is fraught with a sense of humiliation over the colonies and concessions established in the 19th century.
The theories put forward by art historian Lukas Nickel of the University of Vienna were trumpeted in a recent documentary by National Geographic and the BBC.After the documentary aired last month, netizens blasted the BBC and questioned how the Greeks could have impacted ancient China. Read about the outcry here. A short summary there is not enough evidence for anyone to lay claim to anything, as much as everyone would like to.
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