What to do with a set of antique objects whose provenance is uncertain? Fireplace ornaments? Clipboards? Jay Stanley, opted for a virtuous solution. Sensitized to the looting of Italian cultural heritage by an article in the Guardian, this American engineer from Ben Lomond, California, has come into contact with Christos Tsirogiannis in recent months. In charge of the fight against antiquities trafficking with UNESCO, the archaeologist encouraged Jay Stanley to hand over to the Italian embassy in Washington, thirty antiquities that were in his possession.
This private restitution could not have taken place without a previous operation. Jay Stanley said he was marked by the gesture of a resident of Washington, who returned to Italy 19 antiquities inherited from his grandmother. It was while reading a summary of the case published in November 2022 in the Guardian that the American citizen thought of addressing the UNESCO specialist. The researcher naturally hastened to examine the pieces in question. According to photographs sent to the British daily, the antiques consisted of a handful of painted figurines and jugs. Nothing exceptional, certainly, but so many objects nevertheless to be restored.
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"These are Greek coins dated from the sixth to the third century BC, but from various regions of Italy," Christos Tsirogiannis commented Monday for the Guardian. According to Jay Stanley, this collection inherited from his father, who died last October, may have been amassed in Naples, where he had lived for ten years. The city near Mount Vesuvius and the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum represents a hub for the trafficking of Italian antiquities.
A Neapolitan collection
Christos Tsirogiannis knows his stuff. In nearly fifteen years, the specialist has discovered and returned more than 1660 looted antiquities, put on sale on the art market, in galleries, presented by museums or preserved in private collections. If the objects amassed by Jay Stanley's father were not stolen from national collections - they could nevertheless have come from clandestine excavations and have been sold in open markets.
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In any case, "antiquities of Italian origin whose provenance has not been unestablished must be returned to Italy," says Christos Tsirogiannis. This is the spirit of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which commits signatory states – including Italy and the United States – to "put an end to the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property and to cooperate with each other".
Several events have been organized in recent years to raise awareness of the ravages of looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property - the third largest trafficking in the world in terms of turnover after drugs and weapons. In France, exhibitions were organized last year at the Museum of National Archaeology, the Museum of History of Marseille and the Departmental Museum of Arles antique.