2023-10-07 19:00:09
Gold chain with lion head clasps from Cyprus, from the collections of the British Museum. THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
A solid gold Roman bracelet. A chain decorated with lion head clasps from Cyprus. Finely carved blue, green and carmine cameos. On September 26, the British Musem published photos of precious objects resembling those stolen from it, on a page of its site dedicated to the most important investigation, but also the most embarrassing in its history. For the public, the case begins on August 16, 2023, when the institution reveals that approximately two thousand pieces – mainly gold jewelry, semi-precious stones and glassware dating from a period ranging from 1500 BC. BC to the 19th century – have disappeared from its reserves.
Read also: “Around 2,000” pieces stolen from the British Museum
Not during a spectacular heist, organized by experienced skirmishers, but, in all likelihood, little by little, over several years or even decades, hidden in the pockets of a museum employee. The main suspect, a certain Peter Higgs, is none other than the former head of the Greek antiquities department and worked at the British Museum for more than thirty years, before being fired in January 2023, when his employer is suspected of theft and damage.
As the investigation is ongoing, the museum has so far refused to say more, even when The Telegraph had dreamedl, mid-August, that certain jewelry estimated at more than 57,000 euros had been put up for sale on eBay for paltry sums – sometimes less than fifty euros. A fact confirmed by art consultant Ivan Macquisten, in close contact with collectors who alerted the British Museum in 2016, without being, according to him, taken sufficiently seriously.
The impossible census
It is precisely potential buyers that the British Museum is today inviting to testify, on an email address dedicated to the return of lost antiquities. On his site, we can read: “If you are concerned that you are or may have been in possession of any items belonging to the British Museum, or if you have any other information that might help us, please contact us. »
In addition to this appeal to the public, the institution explains in a press release that it works with several high-level experts, as well as with Art Loss Register, the largest computer database in the art world, on which the coming from some “400,000 objects are checked each year”. “If the stolen parts appear there, they will be identified,” assures the museum. Issue : “These objects, for the most part, had not been photographed, nor even cataloged,” Ivan Macquisten believes he knows. Who concedes that the task is impossible: the British Museum has eight million statues, paintings and other relics, including major works which relegate the most adorned Greek jewels to the rank of trinkets.
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