Breaking News:
Chinese art works stolen from the
Chinese Museum at Fontainebleau Palace, near Paris, were themselves
stolen in 1861 by French troops who looted the old Summer Palace
(Yuanminguan).
15 Artworks Stolen From Chinese Museum South of Paris
PARIS — Mar 1, 2015, 12:07 PM ET
French cultural officials say 15 pieces of art have been stolen from a
Chinese museum south of Paris, including a replica crown of the King of
Siam given to France's emperor in the mid-19th century.
The Culture Ministry says the break-in before dawn Sunday at the Chinese
Museum at Fontainebleau Castle was over in less than seven minutes.
Police are investigating.
Castle spokesman Alexis de Kermel said he had no estimation of the
objects' value. He called them "priceless" and the master works of the
museum.
The ministry said the stolen objects were assembled by Empress Eugenie,
the wife of French Emperor Napoleon III, for her Chinese museum in 1863.
The crown was donated by the ambassadors of Siam, now
Thailand, during their official visit to France two years earlier.
http://chineseart.co.uk/uncategorized/fontainebleau-theft-stolen-chinese-art-previously-stolen-is-it-on-its-way-back-to-beijing/
In an ironic twist on the story, it is
now believed that several of the Chinese art works stolen from the
Chinese Museum at Fontainebleau Palace, near Paris, were themselves
stolen in 1861 by French troops who looted the old Summer Palace
(Yuanminguan).
A full list of the 15 items that were stolen is not available, though
there are authenticated reports that among the lifted items were an
18th century Chinese cloisonné-enameled chimera and a rare Tibetan
mandala, thought to be originally part of the old Summer Palace
collection.
For most Chinese the ruins of the old Summer Palace are redolent of
an era of colonial exploitation and ruthless pillage, and there will be
little sympathy in China for the loss suffered at Fontainebleau this
week.
Indeed, there is some speculation now in Beijing that the items now
in turn stolen in Paris might just turn up back in the Chinese capital .
. .
Château de Fontainebleau was decorated by Empress Eugenie, the wife
of Emperor Napoleon III, with artifacts collected by her and by the sack
of the Summer Palace by French and British soldiers in 1860.
If you are not Chinese, it’s hard to express how raw the150-year-old wound still is.
This BBC documentary aired last month puts it in perspective, when it said:
“There is a deep, unhealed historical wound in the UK’s relations with
China – a wound that most British people know nothing about, but which
causes China great pain. It stems from the destruction in 1860 of the
country’s most beautiful palace.”
Château de Fontainebleau’s website was offline for most of yesterday.
Possibly the site was overwhelmed by traffic, maybe purposely shut
down, or even hacked. It is, however, back on today but remains
tight-lipped on any further developments.
One of the last times that artifacts originating in the Old Summer
Palace were in the news was when one of France’s wealthiest businessmen
agreed to return two bronze animal heads in 2013 that were looted by
French and British troops in the 19th century.. Several of the original
bronze heads can now be seen in person at the
Poly Art Museum at Dongsishitiao.
The Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, was built in 1707 under the
reign of the Kangxi Emperor and is located in Haidian. It was looted and
destroyed almost completely during the closing days of the Second Opium
War by British and French troops under the order of the British
commander, Lord Elgin, at the time.
Noted French novelist
Victor Hugo noted at the time:
“All
the treasures of all our cathedrals put together could not equal this
formidable and splendid museum of the Orient … One of the two victors
filled his pockets; when the other saw this he filled his coffers. And
back they came to Europe, arm in arm, laughing away. Such is the story
of the two bandits. We Europeans are the civilized ones, and for us the
Chinese are the barbarians. This is what civilization has done to
barbarism.”
It would, indeed, represent the supreme irony if some of the items so
lately stolen were to turn up again in Beijing. I am making no
predictions as such but it is a distinct possibility, according to
Beijing chatter. The Irish Rathkeale Rovers have strong connections in China and this would follow the pattern of continued theft of Chinese artworks Europe wide, nay worldwide, given added impetious because of the Police raids and clamp down on the activities of the Irish Rathkeale Rovers in recent times.
See original source:
http://chineseart.co.uk/uncategorized/fontainebleau-theft-stolen-chinese-art-previously-stolen-is-it-on-its-way-back-to-beijing/
See backstory below:
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-01-02/the-irish-clan-behind-europes-rhino-horn-theft-epidemic
Richard Kerry O'Brien sues Bloomberg see link below:
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/irishman-sues-bloomberg-for-18m-for-falsely-portraying-him-as-king-of-rhinohorn-trafficking-gang-30875199.html
Harry Winston Trial Ends With Jail Time, 500 Pieces Remain Outstanding !!
8 jailed in double Paris jewellery heist
PARIS - A
French court has sentenced eight men to jail over a double heist at a Harry
Winston jewellery shop in Paris in which they made off with gems and watches
worth more than 100 million euros (US$114 million).
The Paris
court Friday sentenced them to prison terms ranging from nine months to 15
years over the robberies in 2007 and 2008.
Douadi
Yahiaoui, nicknamed "Doudou" and considered the brains behind the
double heist, was handed a 15-year jail term. Yahiaoui, 50, has already served
23 years for theft and drug trafficking.
"He
was the brains of the team. He is the one who organised everything, recruited
the robbers, gave instructions and was in charge of selling the
jewellery," said prosecutor Sylvie Kachaner.
The court
also sentenced former Harry Winston security guard Mouloud Djennad, 39, to five
years in jail, with three suspended, for providing information to Yahiaoui.
"My
thoughts are with my former colleagues at Harry Winston. I'm ashamed every day
but I cannot undo what I've done," he had told the court before the jury
retired to deliberate their verdict.
In the
first robbery in October 2007, four masked gunmen wearing decorators' overalls
held up employees at the store in an upmarket part of the French capital.
The
robbers had spent the night in the jewellery shop with the help of Djennad, who
let them in the previous evening.
After
having threatened, struck and tied up employees, the thieves forced the manager
to de-activate alarms and open the safes. The robbers made off with 120 watches
and 360 pieces of jewellery worth more than 32 million euros.
Then just
over a year later, in December 2008, four men -- including three wearing
women's clothes and wigs -- entered the same store, again with Djennad's help.
In less
than 20 minutes, they took 104 watches and 297 pieces of jewellery worth 71
million euros and fled in a car.
Police
found some of the booty at Yahiaoui's home, but after a five-year
investigation, nearly 500 of the jewels and watches have still not been found.
"It's
an exceptional case with unusual aspects," Eric Dupond-Moretti, the lawyer
of one of the suspects, had said.
"In
television series about heists, they wear bulletproof vests. Here it's fishnet
stockings and high heels."
Among the
other defendants, Farid Allou, 49, who had served 20 years for armed robbery,
was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
Karim
Debaa, 32, who admitted taking part in the second robbery, got six years, as
did Hassen Belferroum, 32, and Faudile Yahiaoui, 28, Yahiaoui's nephew.
The court
imposed a sentence of three years, with 18 months suspended, on Patrick
Chiniah, 40, brother-in-law of Yahiaoui, and nine months for Areski Yahiaoui,
59, Yahiaoui's brother, who was convicted of receiving stolen goods.
8 jailed in double Paris jewellery heist
AFPSaturday, Feb 28, 2015
PARIS - A French court has
sentenced eight men to jail over a double heist at a Harry Winston
jewellery shop in Paris in which they made off with gems and watches
worth more than 100 million euros (US$114 million).
The Paris court Friday sentenced them to prison terms ranging from nine months to 15 years over the robberies in 2007 and 2008.
Douadi Yahiaoui, nicknamed "Doudou" and considered the brains behind
the double heist, was handed a 15-year jail term. Yahiaoui, 50, has
already served 23 years for theft and drug trafficking.
"He was the brains of the team. He is the one who organised
everything, recruited the robbers, gave instructions and was in charge
of selling the jewellery," said prosecutor Sylvie Kachaner.
The court also sentenced former Harry Winston security guard Mouloud
Djennad, 39, to five years in jail, with three suspended, for providing
information to Yahiaoui.
"My thoughts are with my former colleagues at Harry Winston. I'm
ashamed every day but I cannot undo what I've done," he had told the
court before the jury retired to deliberate their verdict.
In the first robbery in October 2007, four masked gunmen wearing
decorators' overalls held up employees at the store in an upmarket part
of the French capital.
The robbers had spent the night in the jewellery shop with the help of Djennad, who let them in the previous evening.
After having threatened, struck and tied up employees, the thieves
forced the manager to de-activate alarms and open the safes. The robbers
made off with 120 watches and 360 pieces of jewellery worth more than
32 million euros.
Then just over a year later, in December 2008, four men -- including
three wearing women's clothes and wigs -- entered the same store, again
with Djennad's help.
In less than 20 minutes, they took 104 watches and 297 pieces of jewellery worth 71 million euros and fled in a car.
Police found some of the booty at Yahiaoui's home, but after a
five-year investigation, nearly 500 of the jewels and watches have still
not been found.
"It's an exceptional case with unusual aspects," Eric Dupond-Moretti, the lawyer of one of the suspects, had said.
"In television series about heists, they wear bulletproof vests. Here it's fishnet stockings and high heels."
Among the other defendants, Farid Allou, 49, who had served 20 years for armed robbery, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
Karim Debaa, 32, who admitted taking part in the second robbery, got
six years, as did Hassen Belferroum, 32, and Faudile Yahiaoui, 28,
Yahiaoui's nephew.
The court imposed a sentence of three years, with 18 months
suspended, on Patrick Chiniah, 40, brother-in-law of Yahiaoui, and nine
months for Areski Yahiaoui, 59, Yahiaoui's brother, who was convicted of
receiving stolen goods.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/crime/8-jailed-double-paris-jewellery-heist#sthash.Oeq3os60.dpuf
8 jailed in double Paris jewellery heist
AFPSaturday, Feb 28, 2015
PARIS - A French court has
sentenced eight men to jail over a double heist at a Harry Winston
jewellery shop in Paris in which they made off with gems and watches
worth more than 100 million euros (US$114 million).
The Paris court Friday sentenced them to prison terms ranging from nine months to 15 years over the robberies in 2007 and 2008.
Douadi Yahiaoui, nicknamed "Doudou" and considered the brains behind
the double heist, was handed a 15-year jail term. Yahiaoui, 50, has
already served 23 years for theft and drug trafficking.
"He was the brains of the team. He is the one who organised
everything, recruited the robbers, gave instructions and was in charge
of selling the jewellery," said prosecutor Sylvie Kachaner.
The court also sentenced former Harry Winston security guard Mouloud
Djennad, 39, to five years in jail, with three suspended, for providing
information to Yahiaoui.
"My thoughts are with my former colleagues at Harry Winston. I'm
ashamed every day but I cannot undo what I've done," he had told the
court before the jury retired to deliberate their verdict.
In the first robbery in October 2007, four masked gunmen wearing
decorators' overalls held up employees at the store in an upmarket part
of the French capital.
The robbers had spent the night in the jewellery shop with the help of Djennad, who let them in the previous evening.
After having threatened, struck and tied up employees, the thieves
forced the manager to de-activate alarms and open the safes. The robbers
made off with 120 watches and 360 pieces of jewellery worth more than
32 million euros.
Then just over a year later, in December 2008, four men -- including
three wearing women's clothes and wigs -- entered the same store, again
with Djennad's help.
In less than 20 minutes, they took 104 watches and 297 pieces of jewellery worth 71 million euros and fled in a car.
Police found some of the booty at Yahiaoui's home, but after a
five-year investigation, nearly 500 of the jewels and watches have still
not been found.
"It's an exceptional case with unusual aspects," Eric Dupond-Moretti, the lawyer of one of the suspects, had said.
"In television series about heists, they wear bulletproof vests. Here it's fishnet stockings and high heels."
Among the other defendants, Farid Allou, 49, who had served 20 years for armed robbery, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
Karim Debaa, 32, who admitted taking part in the second robbery, got
six years, as did Hassen Belferroum, 32, and Faudile Yahiaoui, 28,
Yahiaoui's nephew.
The court imposed a sentence of three years, with 18 months
suspended, on Patrick Chiniah, 40, brother-in-law of Yahiaoui, and nine
months for Areski Yahiaoui, 59, Yahiaoui's brother, who was convicted of
receiving stolen goods.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/crime/8-jailed-double-paris-jewellery-heist#sthash.Oeq3os60.dpuf
Diamond Thief Gets 15 Years in Paris Heist
PARIS
— A French court meted out a prison sentence of 15 years on Friday to a
convicted drug trafficker considered the ringleader of a spectacular
$100 million diamond heist at a Harry Winston jewelry store that thieves in flowing wigs carried out with inside knowledge from a security guard.
Throughout
the trial, which lasted almost four weeks, the main defendant, Daoudi
Yahiaoui, 50, minimized his role in the 2008 robbery in the so-called
golden triangle of luxury boutiques in Paris. But the tribunal concluded
that he was the brain behind the robbery and a holdup in 2007, which
together resulted in the theft of more than 900 diamonds and other
jewels.
Mr.
Yahiaoui was one of eight men on trial, and the others were sentenced
to prison terms of nine months to 15 years. With video of the 2008
robbery, the plot unraveled over the years as the thieves sought to sell
the gems, unaware that their telephones were tapped and they were being
tailed by investigators seeking to recover the jewels. About 500 gems
remain missing.
Mouloud Djennad, 39, the guard who
admitted being the “inside man”
in the plot, was sentenced to five years, but he remained free with
three years of the punishment suspended and additional time reduced for
the period he spent in pretrial detention.
During
the trial, he expressed remorse for his actions, apologizing to a
former co-worker, who was a witness, and weeping in his hands.
The
trial, which started Feb. 3, offered an unusual view of the plotting of
a diamond theft, one of many that jolted the luxury districts of the
French capital in a wave of organized robberies.
The
robbery seemed flawlessly executed, but the thieves were tripped up by a
series of mistakes, like leaving behind a handbag with a fingerprint,
and by their troubled efforts to sell the diamonds amid tensions with
intermediaries scouting for buyers.
In
March 2011, on the fifth search of Mr. Yahiaoui’s home in a Paris
suburb, investigators found stuffed in a drainpipe a hand cream bottle
that contained missing earrings, assorted rings and a 31-carat diamond
solitaire.
The
actual estimates of the loss varied because of the difference in retail
and wholesale values of the gems. In court, a lawyer for Harry Winston
testified that the company had received insurance payments of $36.7
million for the 2007 holdup and $52.6 million for the second robbery.
Many
of the men on trial are related to each other. Mr. Yahiaoui’s
brother-in-law introduced the guard to him after he casually revealed
security weaknesses in the jewelry store. Mr. Yahiaoui’s brother and
nephew were also sentenced in the plot.
Lawyers
for the guard defended his involvement by saying he was naïve and
trusted Mr. Yahiaoui because they shared family roots in the Kabylie
region in northeastern Algeria. Mr. Djennad, who has been working in a
butcher shop while awaiting the trial, said he had become trapped in his
friendship with Mr. Yahiaoui, who intimidated him into participating in
the second robbery in 2008 despite his misgivings after the first
holdup.
Grainy
black-and-white video from the store shows him opening the door to the
men in their outlandish outfits and then standing by the door as they
fled with a rolling suitcase of gems.
Missing Picasso, disguised as a holiday gift, is recovered in New York
U.S. officials inspected a FedEx package shipped from Belgium to New York in December with its happy holiday greeting, "
Joyeux Noel." They opened it and instead of a $37 “art craft toy” promised on the box found a stolen Picasso painting worth millions.
Loretta
Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and
likely next attorney general of the United States, filed a civil
forfeiture complaint seeking to seize the painting, “La Coiffeuse” (The
Hairdresser), reported stolen from a Paris museum storeroom in 2001. The
painting will eventually be returned to France.
“A lost treasure has been found,” Lynch said
in a statement released Thursday.
“Because
of the blatant smuggling in this case, this painting is now subject to
forfeiture to the United States. Forfeiture of the painting will extract
it from the grasp of the black market in stolen art so that it can be
returned to its rightful owner,” she stated.
Picasso painted the work in 1911. It is an oil-on-canvas that measures 33 by 46 centimeters, or about 13 by 18 inches.
It
was bequeathed to the National Museums of France by its former
director, Georges Salles, in 1966, and assigned to the collections of
the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris. The work was last publicly
exhibited in Munich, Germany, in 1998, then returned to Paris and placed
in the storerooms of the Centre George Pompidou.
There the
painting, valued at about $2.5 million, remained until a request was
made to again exhibit it. The staff went to the storeroom where they
discovered it was missing in November 2001. The location of the painting
remained unknown until December.
On Dec. 17, the painting was
shipped by someone in Belgium to a warehouse in Long Island City, part
of the New York City borough of Queens. It was then sent to Newark where
it was examined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, then turned over
to Homeland Security investigators, according to the U.S. attorney’s
office.
The package's shipping label described the contents as an
“Art Craft / Toy” valued at 30 euros, or approximately $37 U.S. dollars,
a low-value handicraft shipped as a Christmas present.
No arrests have been made in the case.
No one uses real jewels since Cleopatra died: Calvin Klein on Lupita Nyong'o Oscar dress
Lupita Nyong'o is graceful in white.
American fashion house Calvin Klein, that was recently in
news for Lupita Nyong'o stolen Oscar dress, has asserted that they
never claimed whether or not the pearls on the dress were real.
A
source connected with the Women's Creative Director of Calvin Klein
asserted that they never told anyone if the pearls were real or fake,
TMZ.com reported. The source added that everyone knew pearls were fake
as no one made dresses out of real jewels since Cleopatra died.
According
to reports, the only person who represented the pearls as real and
valued the dress at 150K dollars was Lupita's stylist.
Nyong'o stolen Oscar dress was reportedly worth between 150,000 dollars and 10 million dollars.
The
thief had called the website and said he took two of the pearls down to
the Garment District in LA and learned they were fake and that's when
he returned the dress to the hotel.
Spain nabs 9 alleged art forgers for selling fake works by Picasso, Warhol and Miro
-
In
this photo released by the Spanish Interior Ministry on Saturday, Feb.
28, 2015, different pieces of alleged fake art are seen inside a studio
in Valencia, Spain. Spanish Police have broken up a network that
allegedly created and sold fake works of art purporting to be by artists
of international standing including Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Joan
Miro. Officers have arrested nine suspects in the eastern region of
Valencia, including the alleged counterfeiters and intermediaries
involved in selling the fakes. Investigators searched seven addresses
and seized 271 works, including canvasses, sculptures and documents to
be used to falsify the art's provenance.
MADRID (AP) – Spanish police have
broken up a gang that allegedly created and then sold fake works of art
purporting to be by renowned artists including Pablo Picasso, Andy
Warhol and Joan Miro.
Officers have arrested nine suspects in the eastern region of
Valencia, including the alleged counterfeiters and intermediaries
involved in selling the fakes online and through galleries, an Interior
Ministry statement says.
The investigation began following a complaint that art objects had been stolen from a house in the eastern city of Denia.
Police proceeded to search seven addresses and seized 271 works,
including canvasses, sculptures and documents to be used in the
falsification of the art's provenance.
Saturday's statement says the alleged counterfeiters were three
brothers and a couple, who had all been faking art for seven years.
Multi-millionaire
businessman who stores cars, wine, cigars and art treasures for the rich and
famous is arrested in fraud case
- Yves
Bouvier was detained in Monaco, along with two alleged accomplices
- Comes
amid accusations so-called 'Freeports' are being used to dodge tax
- Ultra-high
net worth individuals use the vast repositories to store treasures
- Bouvier
owns £50m Luxembourg Freeport at Grand Duchy's Findel airport
- It
is connected to 'possible fraud and manipulation of art market prices'
- Monaco
FC owner Dmitry Rybolovlev is one of Bouvier's alleged victims
A
multi-millionaire businessman responsible for storing some of the greatest art
treasures and luxury goods in the world has been arrested on suspicion of
fraud.
Yves
Bouvier - whose rich and famous clients include many from Britain - was placed
in custody in Monaco on Wednesday night, along with two alleged accomplices.
It
follows a complaint about his so-called 'Freeports' - vast repositories where
ultra-high net worth individuals keep their treasures.
They
include everything from priceless paintings to top marque cars, fine wines and
cigars, with Mr Bouvier insisting all would be kept safe and under conditions
of utter secrecy.
This had
led to accusations that they are being used to avoid tax, and even to fence off
stolen property before it is sold.
A source
close to Monaco prosecutors today confirmed that the current investigation
centres on Mr Bouvier's deposit in Luxembourg, and attempts to 'manipulate art
prices'.
The £50m
Luxembourg Freeport is situated in the cargo centre of the Grand Duchy's Findel
airport, and occupies a bomb-proof 11,000 square metre building.
It
contains state-of the-art facilities for storing cars, wine, cigars, art works,
and other luxury items, including precious metals.
Mr
Bouvier, who also owns the Singapore Freeport, insisted that his so-called
'bonded-area' was completely above board, even though similar complexes have
been linked with smuggling and other illicit activity.
The
Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, owner of Monaco football club, is thought
to be one of his victims.
Tetiana
Bersheda, a lawyer representing Mr Rybolovlev, said in a statement that an
'investigation has been launched by the judicial authorities of Monaco against
Mr Yves Bouvier, one of the most famous people in the world of art who is the
owner of the free ports of Singapore, Geneva and Luxembourg among others.
'After
having worked for more than 10 years with Mr Bouvier, the Rybolovlev family
received some information about possible fraud and manipulation of prices on
the art market by Mr Bouvier and his accomplices.
'The
scope and all the victims of the fraudulent scheme created by Mr Bouvier have
not yet been identified at this time.'
Mr
Rybolovlev is one of the richest men in the world, with an art collection which
includes Monets, Picassos and Van Goghs.
There was
no immediate comment from representatives of Mr Bouvier about his arrest.
David
Arendt, managing director of the Luxembourg Freeport, said last year: 'The
legislative framework under which the Luxembourg Freeport operates guarantees
total traceability of all goods stored and ensures that all activities strictly
comply with international standards.
He added:
'The Luxembourg Freeport has eight showrooms and a spectacular lobby designed
to display the goods in storage.'
Shell are
among companies who have called for the closure of 'bonded areas' in the
Philippines, where oil smuggling costs hundreds of millions of dollars in lost
tax revenue every year.
In 2003
the authorities in Switzerland, where there are numerous similar centres,
announced they would return hundreds of antiques stolen from Egypt and then
stored.
Richtung22,
a pressure group campaigning against tax avoidance, said the Luxembourg site
was typical of many being used to avoid tax, and to cover up other illegal activity.
British Man’s Return of Benin Empire’s Stolen Art Re-Exposes How Monumental Wrong Is Still Not Right
In January 1897, seven British officials, including leader and acting Consul-General
James Phillips, were ambushed and killed on their way to see Benin King
Ovonramwen or
Oba.
The murders caused the U.K. to respond with 500 soldiers of their own
in what is now understood as “the most-brutal massacre of the colonial
era.”
After deposing the King, soldiers pillaged and plundered the Benin
Kingdom, stealing thousands of artifacts and artworks, with the majority
of the spoils going to the British museum. However,
Mark Walker (pictured below), recently decided to return two artifacts to the kingdom that were given to him by his grandfather,
Captain Herbert Walker (pictured), re-exposing the fact that the British have still refused to return these priceless works.
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The Benin Empire, which is located today in the southern region of
present-day Nigeria, controlled trade between Europe and the Nigerian
coast from the late 1400s to the end of the 1900s.
Made out of brass, ivory, and coral,
the art that came out of the Benin kingdom served a number of purposes:
they were physical manifestations of the empire’s history and
additionally expressed King Oba’s divinity and interactions with the
supernatural.
The art that came out of this kingdom reportedly dates back to at least 500 BCE.
In 1897, when Phillips and his men were killed, the British
answered back with a 500-strong force that used Maxim machine guns and
rockets against the kingdom.
Retired doctor Mark says of the bloodbath, “The British had much better weapons so it was something of an uneven battle.”
Mark’s grandfather fought among the ranks and wrote the following
about the massacre in his “To Benin & back” diary (pictured) that
detailed what was officially called the
Benin Punitive Expedition:
The city is the most gruesome sight I’ve ever seen,”
wrote Herbert. “The whole pace is littered with sculls & corpses in
various stages of decay, many of them fresh human sacrifices. Outside
the king’s palace were two crucifixion trees, one for men & the
other for women, with the victims on & around them. As we approached
the city through the bush, we found bodies of slaves newly sacrificed
& placed across the path to bring the Benis luck, while they lay in
holes, or behind cover, & ‘sniped’ at us as we passed.
According to Captain Walker, both men and women were sacrificed that
day in an effort to appease the gods and foil the British attack.
Following the killing was the looting: More than 2,000 religious artifacts and artworks were stolen and taken to England.
Of the stolen works, Herbert described how a fellow officer was
“wandering round with chisel & hammer, knocking off brass figures
& collecting all sorts of rubbish as loot.”
In addition, all religious buildings and palaces were set on fire.
To date, the British Museum has 800 artworks that came directly from the Benin Punitive Expedition.
King Oba
Meanwhile, King Oba was exiled to Calabar and by the time the
monarchy was restored 17 years later, the Benin Kingdom was no more, and
in its place was the newly colonized “Nigeria.”
But Captain Walker didn’t come away empty handed either: He
took an Oro bird, which is known as the bird of prophecy (pictured), and
a bell (pictured) that was used to invoke the ancestors.
And in 2013, Mark would inherit those items.
“I was surprised, having coveted them for so many years that when I
finally came in possession of them I found myself asking what their
future was.
“As you come in to your 60s, you realise you have got to start making
preparations for moving away from this life. I was asking myself, What
do I want them for? Possessions aren’t as important as I used to think
when I was younger.”
After speaking with his children and realizing that they did not care
to have the artifacts, Mark wondered about how to return the items to
their actual home.
The BBC reports:
He came across the Richard Lander Society,
an organisation that campaigns for the Benin artworks to be returned to
the royal palace in Benin City. It helped him contact the right people
and last year Walker travelled to Nigeria to hand the bronzes to the
present Oba (pictured), the great-grandson of the King deposed by
Herbert and his colleagues.
“It was very humbling to be greeted with such enthusiasm and
gratitude, for nothing really. I was just returning some art objects to a
place where I feel they will be properly looked after,” says Mark.
Prince Edun Akenzua (left) met with Mark Walker in Benin City to receive the bronzes
Obviously, Mark’s bird of song and bell aren’t just “some art objects,” though.
“Those things that were removed were chapters of our history book,” says
Prince Edun 
Akenzua, a younger brother of the current Oba.
“When they were made, the Benin people did not know how to write, so
whatever happened, the Oba instructed the bronze casters to record it.
“We saw the removal as a grave injustice and we are hoping that
someday people will see why we are asking for these things back,” he
says.
Clearly, Mark’s contribution isn’t even the tip of the iceberg in regards to what was lost by the Benin Empire.
Consequently, Prince Edun has been reportedly lobbying
British Parliament to return all of the looted artworks and artifacts to
Benin City.
Prince Edun adds, “The English returned the Stone of Scone to
Scotland some years ago. So why can’t they return our things? They mean
so much to us but they mean nothing to the British.”
Not surprisingly, there is resistance to returning the works, with
some oddly arguing that sending them back to Nigeria would actually be
putting them in danger.
To that, Prince Edun quips, “It’s a bit like if someone were to steal
my car in Benin City, and I found it in Lagos and could prove that it
was mine. And the thief told me, ‘OK, you can have your car back if you
can convince me that you’ve built an electronically controlled garage to
keep the car. Until you do that, I will not return it to you.’”
Meanwhile, at press time, the British Museum claims that they haven’t
received any “recent” requests for the nearly 1,000 artworks and
artifacts they possess from the Empire.
In a statement, the museum added:
“As a museum of the world for the world the British
Museum presents the Benin Bronzes in a global context alongside the
stories of other cultures and makes these objects as available as
possible to a global audience.”
SEE ALSO: REPORT: HUNDREDS MORE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS LYNCHED THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
400-Year-Old Books Stolen in Italy Are Found in California
Two stolen Italian books dating to the 17th century that were discovered
in the San Francisco Bay Area and many other plundered ancient
artifacts will be returned to their country of origin, federal officials
say.
The books, "Stirpium Historiae" and "Rariorm Plantarum Historia Anno
1601," were taken from Italy's Historical National Library of
Agriculture and sold to an antiquities dealer in
Italy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The Bay Area buyer willingly surrendered the books to investigators.
ICE's
Homeland Security
Investigations unit will return other cultural treasures to the Italian
government this week, including a 17th century cannon, 5th century
Greek pottery and items dating to 300-460 B.C.
The items were stolen in Italy and smuggled into the U.S. over the last several years. Their value was not released.
"The cultural and symbolic worth of these Italian treasures far
surpasses any monetary value to the Italians," Tatum King, acting
special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San
Francisco said in the statement.
Agents also recovered four stolen artifacts reported missing in July
2012. Three Roman frescos dating to 63-79 A.D. and a piece of dog-figure
pottery from the 4th century B.C. that were illegally pilfered from
Pompeii were recovered from a private art collection in San Diego and
will be returned to Italy.
Eleven investigations nationwide led to the recovery of the antiquities.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Rome's force for combatting art
and antiquities crimes helped Homeland Security Investigations officials
in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Miami, San Diego and San Francisco.
"This repatriation underscores the strong level of judicial cooperation
between the U.S. and Italy, and the great attention that both countries
assign to the protection of cultural heritage," said Claudio Bisogniero,
Italy's ambassador to the U.S.
The U.S. government has returned more than 7,200 artifacts to 30
countries since 2007, including paintings from France, Germany, Poland
and Austria; 15th to 18th century manuscripts from Italy and Peru; and
items from China,
Cambodia and Iraq, the statement says.
