SOUTH AFRICA
'it was a lot of money'
SA history museum unable to redeem our silver heritage
November 25, 2005
By Dominique Herman
A Belgian man has been trying unsuccessfully for 10 years to return rare
18th century Cape silver that was stolen from the SA National Cultural
History Museum (NCHM) and sold to him in Antwerp by a former museum
employee.
When antique dealer Elkan Wijnberg bought the four pieces, he thought they
were 19th century reproductions.
Then he stumbled upon a book called Cape Silver and silversmiths by Stephan
Welz documenting Cape silver from the late 17th to mid-19th century.
"To my surprise on the cover of the book there was a picture of a similar
coffee pot," Wijnberg said.
Inside, another picture revealed the pot was from the 18th century and it
had the same wear patterns as his coffee pot.
The book said only one pot of this design was known and it was housed in the
NCHM in Pretoria.
After making contact with the museum, a meeting was arranged in Antwerp with
the museum's current collections manager, Glyn Balkwill.
The dealer who sold the pieces to Wijnberg was arrested and a court case
ensued.
But then Wijnberg's lawyer told him the case had been dismissed and the
charges against the alleged thief dropped because the judge had been
repeatedly unable to obtain a response from South African authorities or
museum staff.
"Nobody, ever, from the museum contacted me to buy the pieces back at any
price. If they had contacted me about repurchasing the pieces, I would have,
for my buying price plus a reasonable percentage of the real value,"
Wijnberg said, adding that he had purchased all four pieces for 82 500
Belgian francs (about R16 000).
In a letter from Balkwill to the International Council of Museums (Icom)
dated January 11, 1996, Balkwill ascribed a collective value of between R30
000 and R37 500 to the four pieces.
The museum could no longer claim from insurance and was "not in a financial
position to reimburse Mr Wijnberg".
"It would seem, therefore, that unless another mechanism can be found to
ensure the return of the items to SA, these very important items of the SA
cultural heritage will be lost to the people of SA. I appeal to you to use
the influence of Icom to get these items repatriated," Balkwill continued in
the letter.
Wijnberg said: "I was a bit upset, to say the least, by this underhand
attitude."
Nonetheless, he would give the museum first choice if it was still
interested, at about R200 000 less than the normal market price which he
estimated to be e60 000 (about R462 000). Again he received no response.
Balkwill said telephonically this week that he had referred the matter to
his board at the time on "as many occasions" as he could, but management had
decided to write the matter off because it claimed it did not have the money
to pay Wijnberg for the items.
"It was a lot of money in comparison to our budget," he said, adding that
Belgian law was if the items had been purchased "in good faith", the owner
would have to be reimbursed.
"We want the items back but we're consulting on the legitimacy of buying
stolen property," said Makgolo Makgolo, chief executive officer of the
Northern Flagship Institute - Gauteng's equivalent of Iziko museums.
http://www.capetimes.co.za/
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