December 22, 2004
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- 17th Century violin stolen near Grant Park
- A series of new dams is submerging archaeological sites throughout Iran
- 4th Century Antiquity Returned to Yemen
- Thief injured in latest Santa Fe art theft
- Iraq's library struggles to rise from the ashes
- Arrestation de 11 personnes soupçonnées de vol d'objets d'art
- Historic items sought in theft probe turned in
- Germany fights for Rubens
- FBI announces $50,000 reward for jewel theft suspect
- Antique Map Thief to Be Sentenced
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17th Century violin stolen near Grant Park
Published December 19, 2004
A masked man stole a 17th Century violin Friday from a Canadian man in Chicago's South Loop.
Police did not know the value of the violin that was crafted in 1669, police spokesman Hector Alfaro said.
The man, whose name police declined to release, was not injured in the robbery that occurred about 8:20 p.m. Friday near Wabash Avenue and 11th Street close to Grant Park, Alfaro said.
The victim was walking southbound on Wabash when the man wearing a ski mask and sunglasses approached him to ask for change, Alfaro said. The Canadian man was searching his pockets for change when the offender grabbed for his violin case.
The two men struggled for the antique instrument, but the thief wrestled it away and headed to the CTA Orange Line station on Roosevelt Road, Alfaro said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/
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A series of new dams is submerging archaeological sites throughout Iran
Ambitious hydro-electric programme is pushed ahead regardless of heritage fears
By Lucian Harris
Iran’s cultural heritage is facing almost unquantifiable damage from an ambitious programme of dam building. There are currently 85 dams under construction across the country, part of a programme that the Iranian government promotes with a considerable amount of national pride. It is an understandable concern in a dry country, parts of which are recovering from a seven-year drought. The dams are also connected to a programme of hydro-electric production that is seen as an essential part of a process of modernisation and industrialisation regularly highlighted by governemnt issued targets and figures. By March of this year, hydro-electric power is expected to produce around 5,500 megawatts of electricity, rising to 14,000 megawatts by 2021, representing 20% of Iran’s total usage.
In its desperate attempts to mount salvage operations, the Iran Cultural Heritage Organisation (ICHTO) has found itself not only obstructed by the Energy Ministry, but close to being in open opposition to the government. With little time remaining to survey the sites under threat, it is possible that the true extent of what will be submerged beneath the waters of these reservoirs will never be known, a potential cultural tragedy in a country often referred to as the cradle of civilisation.
At least five dams, all in advanced stages of construction, have been identified as threatening sites of particular importance. On 8 November, the waters began rising in the reservoir behind the biggest and most advanced of these projects, the Karun-3 Dam, on the Karun River, around 28 kilometres east of the ruins of the ancient city of Izeh. In a clear display of dissent, ICHTO officials refused to attend the opening ceremony attended by Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf. By 14 November, the historic Shalu Bridge, Iran’s first suspension bridge, had already been submerged.
Of greater significance are the early archaeological sites in the area. In late September, a desperate plea for assistance was posted on the internet by A. Dashizadeh, an Iranian archaeologist directing an ICHTO salvage team, which was given a single month to survey the 50 kilometre-long river valley by Ab-Niroo, the company responsible for building the dam. Mr Dashizadeh said that the team had already located 18 sites from the Epipaleolithic period (20,000-10,000 BC), including 13 caves and four rockshelters. The river valley is also rich in rock-carved reliefs, graves, ancient caves and other remains from the Elamite era (2700BC– 645BC) many of which are now underwater.
At the time of writing archaeological salvage operations were continuing around the clock, with four to six months remaining before the water rises to its maximum level. However, Mahmud Mireskandari of the ICHTO’s underwater archaeology team said that his team possesses neither the equipment nor the expertise necessary to save these sites, and without foreign assistance they will be lost. This assistance has yet to materialise and Faramarz Khoshab, president of Izeh’s Cultural Heritage Association says that looting is already a problem.
US archaeologist Dr Henry Wright of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, who surveyed the Karun river area in 1973, told The Art Newspaper that in addition to the early archaeological sites, other significant losses could include castles or qaleh from the Islamic period as well as extraordinary late Islamic cemeteries. “To see this happening breaks my heart,” he said.
By far the most famous site under threat is Pasargadae, ancient capital of the Achaemenids in the sixth century BC and residence of Cyrus the Great, which was registered on Unesco’s World Heritage List last July. Situated in Fars province, it is only four kilometres away from the Teng-e Bolaghi gorge, once part of the renowned Imperial route to Persepolis and Susa, which will be flooded by the Polvar River when the Sivand Dam is completed in March 2005. Part of the ancient city will be buried under mud, and even the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great is believed to be at risk. Beginning in January 2005, a salvage team consisting of French, German, Italian, Japanese and Polish archaeologists will collaborate with their Iranian counterparts in a joint operation to save an estimated 100 archaeological sites in the area.
Another major project, the Sarhand Dam near Hashtrud in East Azerbaijan Province, which will also become operational next year, threatens at least 10 important archaeological sites and substantial archaeological losses are also expected in Gilan Province.
This potential archaeological tragedy has received little media coverage in the west, and many of the areas have never been properly surveyed. What has emerged thus far may just be the tip of the iceberg, and in the process of attempting to transform itself into a modern industrial state, Iran seems set to obliterate a significant part of its cultural heritage.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/
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4th Century Antiquity Returned to Yemen (Rebuttal)
NEW YORK -- (ICE) Assistant Secretary Michael Garcia returned a stolen Fourth Century A.D. cultural antiquity to the government of Yemen.
Mr. Garcia gave the antiquity, known as the "South Arabian Alabaster Stele," to His Excellency Abdulla M. Al-Saidi, the Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen. The stele dates to the period 300-400 A.D. The antiquity was stolen from the Aden Museum in Yemen in July 1994.
ICE agents recovered the stele in New York after a lengthy investigation that began in March 2001. At that time, ICE agents in New York began scrutinizing a well-known antiquities company called Phoenix Ancient Art S.A. and its owners for trafficking in illegally obtained antiquities.
Phoenix later attempted to auction the stele. ICE agents in New York and the ICE Attaché Office in Rome, Italy, were able to obtain proof that the Stele was, in fact, stolen.
In September 2003, ICE agents executed a seizure warrant and took possession of the stele. ICE arrested one of the Phoenix owners for the theft of an Iranian antiquity in December 2003. The owner pled guilty to the charge in June 2004.
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Remarks from Phoenix Ancient Art
The article, "4th Century Stele Returned to Yemen," which appeared on Dec. 14, inaccurately portrays the role my firm, Phoenix Ancient Art, played in the history of the stele. In addition, you state that I pled guilty to theft of an Iranian antiquity and implied that my firm traffics in illegally obtained goods. This is definitively untrue.
Here are the facts: Phoenix Ancient Art is the antiquities dealer of choice for many of the world's leading museums and private collectors. We purchased the stele from another dealer in good faith, and put it up for public auction at Sotheby's the same way. Once Sotheby's discovered that there was a question regarding the piece's rightful ownership, it offered to return it to us. We rejected the offer, and requested that Sotheby's turn it over to the authorities. No action was taken against us in this matter once the piece was turned over, and I am pleased that the piece is finally being returned to its rightful home.
As for the charge to which I pled guilty, it was a misdemeanor for presenting inaccurate paperwork in an administrative process during the shipping of a legally importable Iranian antiquity. I apologized for my actions in court, and paid a $5,000 fine. I have never smuggled any piece nor knowingly trafficked illegally obtained goods.
Phoenix Ancient Art is an ardent proponent of ensuring that only pieces with impeccable provenance are brought to market. In those rare instances when provenance is found to be questionable, as with the Yemeni stele, we quickly see that it is returned to its rightful owner or turned over to the proper authorities-and absorb the financial loss.
It is clear that much of your article is culled from a news release prepared by the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency). However, nowhere in that release does it say that I was convicted of theft or smuggling, or even ever indicted. I believe that a correction or retraction in your publication is in order.
Sincerely,
Hicham Aboutaam
Phoenix Ancient Art, New York
http://nyjtimes.com/
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Thief injured in latest Santa Fe art theft
Source: KRQE News 13
SANTA FE -- The Christmas Spirit didn't keep a thief from hitting yet another art gallery in Santa Fe.
Four Navajo rugs valued at $10,000 were taken from the Ronnie Layden Fine Art Gallery on Guadalupe Street last week.
The owner believes the thief was injured while prying-open the front door, because of the large amount of blood that was found.
The owner says he has been at the Guadalupe Street location for nine months and this is the first time anything has been stolen.
http://www.krqe.com/
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Iraq's library struggles to rise from the ashes
Remains of national history are slowly pieced together
Rory McCarthy in Baghdad
Tuesday December 21, 2004
The Guardian
From the outside it is an unpromising sight. The brickwork of the three-storey building is scarred with black scorch marks from last year's looting, and the cold concrete wall and floors are still bare where the furniture and fittings were stripped away. Only the sign above the entrance was spared, a blue-tiled mosaic announcing to the few who still visit: The House of Books and Documents.
This had been one of Iraq's greatest treasures: a national library that held ancient works of Arab literature, a vast archive of Ottoman-era grandeur, the papers of the British-sponsored monarchy and latterly the obsessively recorded and often chilling evidence of the past 30 years of Ba'ath party rule. The daylight burning of the library, which the invading US military did not protect, was one of the first costly failures in the post-war chaos of occupation last year.
Now it is slowly being restored. But in a country where recent history remains bitterly disputed, resurrecting the library and national archive has turned into a remarkably sensitive and political operation.
Saad Eskander steps away from his desk in a small office in a building beside the library, and walks over to the tall metal safe in the corner to bring out one of his finds. It is a thin book dating from the end of the Ottoman era. Inside is a carefully handwritten ledger of property transactions, each entry neatly signed and sealed with a yellow paper stamp marked with a star and crescent. "It is extremely important," said Mr Eskander, the library's director. "We had 1,000 of these volumes. Now there are two or three."
In many cases, the property transactions recorded in the pages of these books still stand today. Visitors have come asking to look through the books, hoping to find the evidence that will allow them to reclaim family homes and land appropriated by Saddam Hussein's regime.
"We tell them: 'Sorry we can't help you,' because we don't know how much has been lost, perhaps 90%. It will break the heart of a lot of people," Mr Eskander said.
A Kurdish historian who lived in exile for many years and studied at the London School of Economics, Mr Eskander believes the fires that devastated the library last year were carefully targeted.
Two in mid-April destroyed all the records of the republican era from 1958 until the present, including most of the Ba'ath regime's documents.
He estimates the library lost about 60% of its archive, including most of its rare books. Many of the oldest books were moved out before the war and hidden in a nearby government tourist office. In July last year they were found floating in water because a pipe had burst.
Although most appear damaged beyond repair, they have been wrapped in plastic and frozen until Iraq's librarians have the skills and equipment to restore them.
Mr Eskander has found other rare books from the library for sale in street markets, apparently stolen or dumped during the looting.
During the Saddam years the library functioned as a quiet instrument of dictatorship. Little was done to preserve records, such as the important Ottoman property deeds, and many books were simply relegated to an unseen "forbidden books" section.
"This was a dictatorship afraid of new ideas, new theories, new concepts that would question their cultural conformity. They were afraid of anything new," said Mr Eskander. "They wanted conformity. They didn't believe in multiculturalism and the multi-party system."
This in turn means that introducing new ideas and challenging recent history has brought its own dangers. Like many government officials in the new Iraq, Mr Eskander has been threatened since he started work in December last year, after the former director was sacked.
"Every director is threatened," he said. "All of us get threats. Even former employees are making threats; they want to return to their jobs because the salaries have gone up."
He said that some would see the restoration of the library as an acutely political endeavour. "It is a political job when you liberalise your national library: you are talking about building Iraq. We removed all the barriers that prevented leftwing books, Shia books, Kurdish books - all are available now."
Despite the damage, the library still functions to a degree.
Mr Eskander leads the way into a large room in the main building of the library, where a dozen women surrounded by gas heaters are poring over records, many in English, trying to gauge their importance.
Most are from a collection of older interior ministry records stretching back to 1920, which were hidden in rice bags in the basement and survived the fires unaffected.
One woman consults Mr Eskander about a document she has found in English issued on June 26 1925 by King Faisal. It is addressed to Abdul Mohsin al-Sadun, to tell him that the prime minister has just resigned and that he has been appointed to take his place "in view of our confidence in your ability and reliability".
The library is now negotiating with the British Library to obtain microfilm copies of other official documents stored in London that relate to modern Iraqi history, as a way to replace the losses.
"This war opened a new opportunity to show people a new society in a new state," said Mr Eskander.
"To build a new Iraq, you have to have access to the right information. Iraq cannot be built if you distort history or write history according to ideology. We must shed new light on our history and reconsider our past."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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Arrestation de 11 personnes soupçonnées de vol d'objets d'art
21/12 10:54 Onze personnes ont été arrêtées mardi en Italie dans le cadre d'une opération policière visant à démanteler des gangs spécialisés dans le vol d'oeuvre d'art, a indiqué la police.
Une trentaine de perquisitions ont été effectuées par la police provinciale de Turin et des carabiniers spécialisés dans la protection du patrimoine artistique, dans plusieurs régions du nord de l'Italie (Piémont, Lombardie et Vénétie), mais aussi dans la région de Rome et dans le sud du pays.
Parmi les personnes arrêtées figure un homme recherché par la police et soupçonné d'être lié à la 'Ndrangheta, la mafia calabraise.
Au cours de leurs perquisitions, les forces de l'ordre ont notamment saisi de nombreuses oeuvres d'art, 80 grammes de cocaïne, deux valises remplies de faux dollars américains, ainsi que des radios permettant de capter les fréquences de la police, a-t-on indiqué de même source.
http://actu.voila.fr/
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Historic items sought in theft probe turned in
By BETTY JESPERSEN
Staff Writer
Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
FARMINGTON -- L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean Folkers has avoided a contempt-of-court hearing by voluntarily surrendering valuable evidence needed in a theft investigation that she inadvertently purchased at a railroad memorabilia auction last February.
The items are the property of the Phillips Historical Society and were sold by the former president of the group, Kenneth Teele, through the Cyr Auction House in Gray.
Folkers purchased them on behalf of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad of Portland.
For more than a month, the Franklin County District Attorney's Office has tried to get hold of the two Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad stock books, valued at $10,000, and other documents Folkers purchased, to use as evidence in Teele's trial.
The effort has not been easy, prosecutors said.
Teele, 63, has been indicted on a charge of receiving stolen property, a felony.
On Oct. 1, Folkers was issued a subpoena to appear in court with the documents for Teele's trial, originally set for late October. On Oct. 13, she was issued a more weighty judge's order informing her she must produce the documents. She failed to appear both times.
After being issued a contempt subpoena, she showed up in Franklin County Superior Court on Dec. 3 -- without the documents.
Justice Joseph Jabar asked her where they were and who had them, then finally, frustrated with her lack of cooperation and cryptic answers, gave her until Dec. 21 to produce them or face contempt-of-court charges.
Under Maine law, the court can issue a subpoena ordering documents be produced before a trial so both parties and their attorneys can inspect them.
Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said Monday that contempt charges have been dropped against Folkers since her representative brought the stock books, antique postcards and other items to the court late last week.
They will remain in safe keeping until Teele's trial in February. If it is determined they are the historical society's property, they would be returned to the Phillips group and Folkers' money would be reimbursed by the Cyr Auction House, which has had the proceeds from the sale of Teele's property frozen.
"We needed the items because we did not have a good description of what Teele sold in the auction. All we had was what was in the catalog and that wasn't really enough," Andrews said.
He said he has asked Archie "Bill" Berry, a longtime member of the historical society who is knowledgeable about the items, to positively identify them as being the property of the organization.
"It is a relief to have the documents in hand. It will make the case easier to prove," Andrews said.
Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991
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Germany fights for Rubens
Luke Harding in Berlin
Tuesday December 21, 2004
The Guardian
Germany renewed its demand last night for the return from Moscow of a priceless Rubens oil painting that mysteriously vanished during the second world war. The Russian businessman who is refusing to give it back was threatened with legal action.
Germany's culture minister, Christina Weiss, said yesterday that she would be raising the case of the missing Rubens with her Russian opposite number, Alexander Sokolov. The dispute threatens to overshadow a meeting between Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Mr Putin, one of Mr Schröder's closest allies, was due in Hamburg last night.
Tarquin and Lucretia was painted by Peter Paul Rubens between 1609 and 1612 and shows the mythological rape of Lucretia, a chaste Roman wife. It is one of the Flemish master's finest early works.
"The painting is the most important work missing from the collection of Berlin's museum and gardens foundation. We would like it back," a cultural ministry spokesman said yesterday. "We will be raising this during bilateral discussions."
The Germans have been trying to get the Rubens back since a consortium of businessmen offered it for sale last year. It disappeared in 1945 from a castle near Berlin.
The Russian businessman who now says he "owns" the painting, Vladimir Logvinenko, insists he bought it legitimately in 1999 from a Russian antiques dealer.
Two months ago a court in Germany ruled that the German government had not produced enough evidence to show the Rubens was stolen.
Yesterday, however, Ms Weiss indicated that she might now launch a private action in the Russian courts.
"When Mr Logvinenko bought the painting, it was folded up and badly damaged. It didn't have a frame. Our case is that he bought it in bad faith," Ms Weiss's spokesman said.
It appears that a Russian officer acquired the painting in April 1945 as the Red Army overwhelmed Nazi Germany - possibly from a country mansion belonging to Joseph Goebbels, where it had hung in the bedroom of one of the Nazi propaganda minister's many lovers.
The painting then disappeared. It appears to have remained in the officer's family until his daughter sold it for a few hundred dollars. It has a well-documented history.
Frederick the Great bought it in 1765 for his collection; the painting was last seen in 1942 in a gallery in Potsdam.
Art experts agree that despite its poor condition it is worth around €80m (£55m).
Earlier this year Russia's prosecutor general's office ruled that Mr Logvinenko was the Rubens' rightful owner, and said he didn't break any Russian law in acquiring it. Pieces of art stolen by Soviet troops from Germany remain a sensitive subject in Russia.
Many Russians regard them as compensation for the devastation caused by Hitler's invasion. Germany has been negotiating with Russia since 1991 for the restitution of some 200,000 artefacts, while Russia has claims on icons and other artworks stolen by German troops earlier in the war.
Mr Logvinenko appears unapologetic. "I don't want anything more to do with the Germans," he told the Russian daily Izvestia this year. "At least not until they offer me a full apology."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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FBI announces $50,000 reward for jewel theft suspect
By Mary Anne Ostrom
Devin L. Smith played professional football in Milan, was a fixture on the San Francisco club scene and drove a Hummer. Today, he's wanted in the biggest jewelry theft in San Francisco history.
On Monday, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest in one of the city's most brazen robberies. Authorities say the jewels, stolen last year in broad daylight only a block from Union Square, are worth as much as $10 million; the jeweler estimates the retail value could be closer to $20 million.
Smith, 42, who also uses the first name Troy, has taken authorities on a frustrating and fruitless chase since April 6, 2003. That's when Smith, his older brother Dino, and a childhood friend allegedly broke into an adjacent restaurant just before midnight and cut a hole through the wall into Lang Antique and Estate Jewelers.
They tripped the security alarms, but police who responded never saw them. Masked and armed, the burglars hid until the staff opened the Sutter Street store the next morning, held four employees at gunpoint, and ordered them to open the safes, authorities said. They filled garbage bags with more than 1,000 pieces of jewelry -- about 90 percent of the store's inventory, authorities said. Many were one-of-a-kind pieces, including Art Deco designs in platinum and pieces dating from the 19th century. Most of the jewels have not been found.
And neither has Devin Smith.
He teased authorities a year ago, when, after being featured on "America's Most Wanted," police say he wrote a letter to the show's host complaining he couldn't afford a good lawyer or get a fair trial. According to a copy obtained by the Los Angeles Times, he wrote "I'd rather take my chances with hypertension as a fugitive."
San Francisco police inspector Dan Gardner said Monday that the letter contained several different postmarks from the United States. He said they know Smith likes to gamble -- he's been to Las Vegas since the heist -- and travel extensively.
Gardner estimates that about $700,000 worth of jewels, with Lang's tags still attached, were recovered when Smith's childhood friend was arrested at a San Francisco motel six weeks after the robbery. But Gardner wouldn't comment on whether Smith is financing his fugitive lifestyle with the rest: "You'll have to ask him."
Mark Zimmelman, owner of Lang's, said he is always on the lookout for the stolen goods. "My feeling is they haven't been sold or they are way out of the country," he said.
Among other crimes, the Smiths are charged with robbery, kidnapping and conspiracy. Both faced federal arrest warrants when they fled.
Zimmelman knew the Smith brothers years before the heist. A decade earlier they sold him some jewels, which turned out to be stolen from the home of a Nicaraguan with drug ties, and for which they were convicted of possessing stolen property. They were once arrested and accused of planning to kidnap a San Francisco night club owner; police found them in full body armor and with a cache of weapons. The charges were dropped on a legal technicality, Devin Smith's attorney at the time said.
Authorities allege that the Smiths planned the Lang heist in retribution because Zimmelman had testified against them in the trial over the Nicaraguan's stolen jewels.
Dino Smith was arrested in June, after the police followed his girlfriend to New York. He was taken into custody as he got off the A train in Queens and now is in San Francisco County Jail awaiting a Superior Court hearing this week. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
The FBI warns that Devin Smith is armed and dangerous.
Zimmelman thinks his store was targeted simply "because like Willie Sutton went to the bank because there was money, they knew we had jewels." Although his stolen jewels were insured, he is hoping the FBI reward will eventually lead to their recovery.
"They are quite the characters," Zimmelman said of the Smith brothers. "I remember them as highly articulate, urbane, well-dressed -- about the last guys you'd think are gangsters."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/
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Antique Map Thief to Be Sentenced
By Laura May and Antony Stone, PA
A prolific art thief who admitted stealing dozens of rare antique maps worth tens of thousands of pounds will appear in court today.
Former landscape gardener Peter Bellwood, 52, used a sharp knife to “razor” 50 irreplaceable maps during six visits to the National Library of Wales over six months in 2000. He is due to be sentenced at Swansea Crown Court this afternoon.
Bellwood, of Magazine Farm Way, Prettygale, Colchester, netted £70,000 by selling on the antiques to collectors.
At a hearing in October he admitted six identical charges of theft of antique maps.
He denied a seventh identical charge, covering a visit in January 2001, which will now lie on file.
Sentence was adjourned until today’s hearing because at that time no police application had been made to seize any proceeds he retained from his crimes.
At an earlier hearing Creighton Harvey, prosecuting, said the six admitted charges “cover some 50 maps taken over six visits to the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.
“When the library carried out its investigation they put the number of maps taken at over 105.
“The prosecution cannot say precisely which maps were taken. There are 105 missing from the library and he has admitted stealing 50 of them.”
Peter Caldwell, defending, said: “Mr Bellwood is not a man of means. What he received by way of the sale of the maps has been dissipated.”
Latest News:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm
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