The Sale of Egyptian Antiquities at Sotheby's: a Reflection

David Gill's Looting Matters Blog

David Gill (currently a member of the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Egyptology at Swansea University, Wales ), who has been featured on this site before, has updated his blog with a few very well expressed comments regarding the recent auction at Sotheby's:

The sale of the Guennol Lioness - "said to have been found at a site near Baghdad" and displayed at the Brooklyn Museum since 1948 - at Sotheby's in New York this week for US$57.161 million has captured attention.

But this is the third best year since 1998 for the sale of Egyptian antiquities at Sotheby's with a total of US$6.586 million in 2007. First place is 2004 with US$9.414 million, and second is 1999 with US$6.811 million.

Egyptian antiquities now represent 16% of the total sales of antiquities for the period 1998-2007 fetching some US$34.036 million. Antiquities in general - and that includes the Guennol Lioness - have raised some US$216.306 million for Sotheby's.

And what are the sources for these Egyptian antiquities?

Just over 95% lots have no stated find-spot. And some 68% were first known after 1973.

I have quoted this post in full, but you should go to the post to see the graph that illustrates the total sales of Egyptian antiquities sold at Sotheby's in New York since 1998. To see more about David Gill's work, see his Looting Matters blog, and see the his informative interview on the Archaeology Magazine website.

The organization Saving Antiquities for Everyone has a mission to raise awareness of illicit activities surrounding the ownership of antiquities.