To collect is to desire, to want, the things which one collects, whether it’s bunny figurines or fine art. Therein likes the fun, of course — but too deep a desire, so clouded their judgement, and a collector may find something in their cache that they should not own.

For instance, consider Steven Spielberg. The filmmaker, who directed Indiana Jones’ demand that a stolen Inca artifact belongs in a museum, found himself in Belloq’s shoes when the caretakers of Spielberg’s Norman Rockwell collection found a stolen work in his vaults. Spielberg took the honorable step and notified the FBI, who had been looking for the painting since 2004, immediately upon finding the contraband painting. Spielberg was not the thief, but obtained the art through regular channels that apparently had some ‘loose ends’ somewhere in its history. The painting remains in his collection until proper ownership is sorted out, but he does run the risk of losing the art pending the FBI’s decision.

Museums aren’t immune from similar discoveries — with disputes going back hundreds of years regarding who got what from whom. In his interesting blog, “Illicit Cultural Property,” Derek Fincham explains how hard it can be to identify who really has the right to own a particular work, in this case a statue “made in ancient Greece, stolen by Romans and found in the Adriatic by Italian fishermen 2,000 years later.” 26 disputed artifacts in the Getty Trust archive were returned to Italy, but one, the “Statue of a Victorious Youth,” was not, on the grounds that Italy could not provide a firm enough claim to the statue. Fincham agrees that Italy’s various claims, which must prove historical relevance, quality of care, and archeological importance, were not met in this case. The various cases in Fincham’s blog show, over and over, that you needn’t sneak a statue out of a country under darkness of night to have items reclaimed from your collection. The state’s claim of ownership often supercedes a bill of sale from an antique’s dealer, regardless of the owner’s part in the illegal removal.

Modern artifacts are not immune. A North Dakota State University football player’s front yard was raided by police when it was discovered that he had removed a quartzite state border marker from its original position. in 1891, 720 of these markers were erected to distinguish North from South Dakota, but they fell into disuse and many have been damaged or destroyed. The NDSU student had the respectable intention of donating it to NDSU for display, but the authorities had to follow the letter of the law and impounded the marker. After 18 months in storage the marker was eventually turned over to its rightful owner, the Bureau of Land Management, who then let NDSU file the proper paperwork to allow the marker’s display. Charges against the student, happily, were dropped.

On the other end of the spectrum, Maine State Archivist and other government officials were surprised to see an official, original state filing appear on the Antiques Roadshow. Retired judge Bruce Chandler had an original 1976 affidavit changing James Earl Carter’s name on the presidential ballot to “Jimmy Carter.” Insignificant at the time, the Roadshow appraised the document highly…but the state was more concerned about how an original public record could end up in the hands of a private collector. The answer was simple: a copy was legal to file, so Chandler kept the original in his files, eventually framing it for display. This sort of loophole is the one exploited by dealers in the past, resulting in events like the export of the Victorious Youth, because of the ignorance of historical importance. The loophole will eventually close, but items that ’slipped through’ may remain on the market.
If you want to avoid the legal troubles posed by the same sort of cases above, you should first consider:

1. The Source. Reputable importers and dealers should have documentation showing the legality of their items. Ivory, Cuban products, Native American items, and any number of other restricted or protected items have legal channels, but a buyer has few legal protections if they unknowingly acquire an illegal item.
2. Know what you’re getting. Spielberg’s Rockwell painting was a known stolen painting, and minimal research could have turned up its status years ago. An assumption was made about the Source, and no further research was done. When buying unique or rare items, compare against records of known illegal items to avoid getting stuck in the end.
3. Know your rights. If you are willingly tugging the tiger’s tail and dealing in grey-market items, know what you can and cannot do. The current owner of the Victorious Youth and the owner of the Carter affidavit know their legal rights and are exercising them; it may not always work, like the Youth statue’s ongoing case, but it is far more likely to defend than going in blindfolded.
4. Don’t be blinded by the ‘find’. Being happy that you’ve got the first chance and deep enough pockets to acquire a rare, questionable item shouldn’t cloud your judgement. You may want to risk placing a deposit or a retainer to gurantee a hold on the item, to give yourself time to properly research it before taking ownership. Losing a deposit will be far cheaper than the cost of a lawyer to defend your ownership — even if your case is air-tight, you’ll still have legal fees, and the risk of losing the item and your money may not be worth it in the end.

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Article Tags: Cultural Property, Illicit, Norman Rockwell, Steven Spielberg, Victorious Youth

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 2:29 am and is filed under collecting fyi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.