A leading archaeologist is calling for Bonhams to withdraw two Roman antiquities from a forthcoming London auction, claiming that evidence suggests they were looted.
Dr Christos Tsirogiannis told The Telegraph the two items feature in photographs seized in police raids from two traffickers in stolen artefacts.
One is a Roman portrait head, probably the Emperor Titus, which is estimated to fetch between £50,000 and £70,000. Dating from circa 70-100 AD, and 27cm high, it is lot 171 in an auction scheduled for July 4.
Dr Tsirogiannis, who is an affiliated lecturer at the University of Cambridge, said that a polaroid image of the same head, apparently on a white towel, was among items seized by police from Giacomo Medici, who was convicted in Italy in 2004 of dealing in stolen artefacts.
The auctioneer gives the object’s provenance as “private collection, France” as well as the Royal-Athena Galleries, New York and “private collection, USA, acquired from the above in 2002”. Since 2017, The Manhattan District Attorney has recovered – also with the help of Dr Tsirogiannis – many looted items from Royal-Athena, which no longer exists.
Dr Tsirogiannis said: “So basically no verified provenance – and of course, Medici is not mentioned.”
