This list is compiled by Donna Yates. Please let me know of any opportunities to announce.
Be sure to sign up for the Opportunities List.
Special Announcement:
Irina Olevska-Kairisa is seeking archaeologist and heritage practitioners to answer a short survey about heritage crimes. If you identify as an archaeologist, please take one moment to answer the survey:
DANY is once again expanding their team which focuses on investigating and prosecuting antiquities trafficking crime. They are looking for an analyst. You need a masters, experience in the topic, and skill in a foreign language. Note: only US citizens and people with pre-existing authorisation to work in the USA can apply, do not apply if you don’t have a green card or citizenship.
When: Apply ASAP
Where: District Attorney’s Office, Manhattan, New York
Pay: $54,281–$57,159
More Info: https://cityjobs.nyc.gov/job/antiquities-trafficking-analyst-in-manhattan-jid-20840
Alexandra Bregman will be speaking about issues related to antiquities that were housed at Yale University.
When: 1 March 2024
Where: Online and 276 Humanities Quadrangle, 320 York Street, New Haven, CT
Cost: Free
More Info: https://communications.yale.edu/poynter/alexandra-bregman
A fantastic opportunity for a scholar from a formally colonised country to work with collections currently in the Netherlands. There are four fellowships available. The stipend and top ups for these positions are considerable.
When: Apply by 18 March 2024
Where: NIAS, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cost: Stipend, travel top up, and housing topup
The Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste is organizing this event. Please note that attendance is limited to 25 people so if you are interested, register ASAP.
When: 18–19 April 2024
Where: Leipzig University Library, Leipzig Germany
More Info: https://kulturgutverluste.de/termine/Konferenz2024
Contact: conference@kulturgutverluste.de
“The Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts at Columbia Law School, the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, and the New York chapter of the Responsible Art Market Initiative have organized this event on March 1, 2024 to be held at Columbia Law School”
When: 1 March 2024
Where: Online and Columbia University, New York City
More Info: https://go.sullivanlaw.com/1march2024-registration
Held in conjunction with TEFAF, “The half-day event will convene international thought leaders, including museum directors, advisors, galleries and collectors for a peer-to-peer exchange on the art world today. The conference is followed by a networking lunch.” There will be a panel on the antiquities trade.
When: 8 March 2024
Where: MECC, Maastricht, Netherlands
Cost: Tickets from 265 EUR
More Info: https://www.theartbusinessconference.com/TEFAF2024#:~:text=The%20Art%20Business%20Conference%20is,on%20Friday%208%20March%2C%202024.
Register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-art-business-conference-at-tefaf-maastricht-2024-tickets-756179963627?aff=oddtdtcreator
A postdoctoral research position on the exciting BECACO project. This is for someone interested in provenance research, museums, and who wants to “carry out research at the intersection of Knowledge Representation, Linked Data, and Museum Collection Data”
When: Apply by 6 March 2023
Where: Leiden University, The Netherlands
Pay: €4332 to €5929 gross per month
More Info: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/2024/q1/14506-post-doc-position-on-knowledge-representation-and-museum-collections-3-years-08-fte
Contact: m.e.berger@arch.leidenuniv.nl
“The central aim of this action day is to present and communicate provenance research as an academic discipline with high social and political relevance and responsibility. The Provenance Research Day is open to all institutions conducting provenance research or participating in academic discussion of the subject.”
When: 10 April 2024
Where: Online
More Info: https://www.arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CfP_TdP_2024_engl.pdf
Register: https://www.arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org/tag-der-provenienzforschung/
Contact: tag-der-provenienzforschung@arbeitskreis-provenienzforschung.org
“The Princeton University Art Museum seeks a Curator of Provenance to lead provenance research and documentation efforts and ensure broad access to collecting histories.” “The successful candidate will have at least four years of experience gathering and organizing provenance information in a collaborative environment, familiarity with cultural property laws and cultural heritage legislation, expert knowledge of provenance research resources, and a commitment to ethical collecting”
Where: Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey
Pay: $100,000-$130,000
More Info: https://puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply/application.xhtml?listingId=32505
The Art Institute of Chicago is seeking an executive director to head up work related to provenance research. Minimum 8 years experience on the topic.
Where: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Cost: Pay Unknown
“The Curatorial Fellow carries out objects-based and provenance research undertakes cataloging of the permanent collection in the museums’ database, contributes to scholarship in the field, and assists with a broad range of other curatorial activities, including new acquisitions and donor cultivation.” PhD preferred with focus on Roman world.
Where: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Pay: Unknown
The person in this position will oversee all aspects of NAGPRA tribal outreach at Berkeley, among other NAGPRA related duties.
When: APPLY ASAP, first review date 29 February 2024
Where: Berkeley University, California
Pay: $77,600.00-$105,000.00
This list is compiled by Donna Yates. Please let me know of any opportunities to announce.
Be sure to sign up for the Opportunities List.
Hosted by the European Commission and the BRAFA art fair: “his dialogue strives to serve as a platform for exchanging visions, fostering a shared understanding to enhance the effectiveness of the tools at our disposal, to prevent and combat trafficking in cultural goods more successfully and to nurture a fair, reputable and thriving art market.” I’m speaking at it.
When: 30 January 2024
Where: BRAFA, Brussels, Belgium
Cost: Free
More Info: https://culture.ec.europa.eu/event/high-level-event-dialogue-with-the-art-market
Alas: the PhD I should have done! This is an amazing opportunity to work on an exciting and impactful large provenance project headed by Martin Berger. This PhD is fully funded (PhDs in the Netherlands are actual paid jobs) but potential applicants should note the language requirements for the position. This project is going to be amazing, I can’t wait to collaborate with it.
When: Apply by 3 March 2024
Where: Leiden University, The Netherlands
Pay: €2770 – €3539 gross per month
More Info: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/vacatures/2024/q1/14494-phd-position-on-collecting-latin-american-ethnography-and-archaeology-10-fte
Contact: m.e.berger@arch.leidenuniv.nl
The research project “Traces of the `Boxer War’ in German Museum Collections – A Joint Approach” will hold the first international conference on objects in museum collections suspected to have been looted in China in the context of the so-called “Boxer War.”
When: 22 and 23 February 2024
Where: Museum Fünf Kontinente in Munich
Cost: Free
More Info: https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museum-fuer-asiatische-kunst/about-us/whats-new/detail/boxerloot-conference-on-22-and-23-february-2024-in-munich/
Register: boxerprojekt@smb.spk-berlin.de
The Cambridge Heritage Research Centre is looking for a full time, fixed term teaching associate to teach on their Heritage Studies master’s programme. The advert doesn’t say it, but the successful applicant will likely have a PhD.
When: Apply by 15 February 2024
Where: Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Pay: £33,966 to £44,263 per annum
More Info: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DFK224/teaching-associate-in-heritage-studies-fixed-term
Contact: ap2222@cam.ac.uk
This inaugural summit at TEFAF “will delve into the theme of cultural heritage and its challenges with prominent thought leaders, experts, and influential stakeholders from the fields of cultural heritage, art, academia, government”
When: 11 March 2024
Where: TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Cost: Free with art fair admission
More Info: https://www.tefaf.com/programs/summit
This two-year, part-time position with The Center for Art Collection Ethics (ACE) will involve strengthening and developing their work, as well as implementing training programmes. Good for someone with a master’s degree and a focus on museum ethics.
When: Apply by 1 February 2024
Where: University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA
Pay: $26.50 to $31.67 per hour
More Info: https://jobs.du.edu/en-us/job/497026/assistant-director-center-for-art-collection-ethics
IAL will be offering a special two-day Scottish-themed course in Edinburgh. It is intended for museum and gallery professionals and will cover many of the legal issues that are needed to better manage collections of art and cultural artefacts.
When: 15 and 16 April 2024
Where: Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen St, Edinburgh
Cost: £600.00 with a 10% reduction for IAL or UKRG members
More Info: https://ial.uk.com/events/new-ial-short-course-for-scotland-in-april-2024/
Contact: jo.crabtree@ial.uk.com
“This public program aims to discuss the issues related to looting and the illegal selling of antiquities, highlighting the situation in Yemen.”
When: 27 January 2024
Where: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC, and online
Cost: Free
More Info: https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/search/event:171076003/
“This position is the head of the Secretariat (approximately 40 staff), the standing organization of ICOM, and manages ICOM’s day-to-day affairs and operations. “
When: Apply by 17 March 2024
Where: ICOM, Paris
Pay: Unknown
More Info: https://icom.museum/en/news/icom-announces-open-call-for-director-general-position-f-m-x/
The Prince Claus Fund, which supports heritage projects globally, is seeking a junior colleague to assist with their calls, programmes, and projects. A foot in the door for someone interested in heritage and cultural funding.
When: Apply by 1 February 2024.
Where: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Pay: gross monthly salary of between €2,100 and €2,600
More Info: https://princeclausfund.org/vacancy-programmes-officer
Contact: t.giller@princeclausfund.nl
Hosted by the Responsible Art Market initiative, this conference ‘conference celebrates the rich and culturally diverse nature of the art market.’
When: 25 January 2024
Where: artgenève, Palexpo, Geneva
Cost: Various
More Info: https://www.responsibleartmarket.org/events/rams-eighth-annual-conference/
Contact: info@responsibleartmarket.org
Cultural Heritage Partners is looking for a law school student to be a summer associate for 2024: “This position will support the firm’s Art and Museum, Indigenous Heritage, and Preservation practices, which focus primarily on governance of cultural institutions and administrative/regulatory matters related to cultural resources.”
When: Apply by 1 March 2024
Where: Cultural Heritage Partners, Richmond, VA, USA or Remote
Pay: Unknown
More Info: https://www.culturalheritagepartners.com/were-hiring-summer-associate-2024/
Contact: jobs@culturalheritagepartners.com
Held at the ESIL Research Forum on Revisiting Interactions between Legal Orders, abstracts are sought from “from early-career scholars exploring the distinct notions, meaning and roles of “restitution” in the present-day practice of international law of culture”
When: Submit by 12 February 2024
Where: Nicosia, Cyprus
At the Basel Peace Forum “his panel provides a platform to discuss strategies for protecting endangered cultural heritage, showcasing innovative initiatives, and revealing the stories behind them.”
When: 25 January 2024
Where: Basel Peace Forum and Online
Cost: Free
More Info: https://basel-peace.org/bpf-2024/?id=77&overlay=true&type=workshop
This event will exlore topics related to criminal prosicution and criminalisation of threats to cultural heritage. It will be in person and live streamed.
When: 5 February 2024
Where: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Cripta Aula Magna, Largo Agostino Gemelli, 1, Milano
Cost: Free
The first of three webinars hosted by the ANCHISE project
When: 25 January 2025
Where: Online
Cost: Free
More Info: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfi7JfpmYhuBDyYxxosPKjs6No9Yr5GyRrG89OJuMyFUxpH5A/viewform
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13527258.2023.2284740
Abstract:
Provenance research in museums has traditionally been reactive and focused on singular objects with dubious histories, such as colonial-era acquisitions, Nazi-looted art, and objects with active ownership claims; the ‘crimes’ we expect to see. But what if what we think we know prevents us from seeing the bigger picture within and across museum collections? We argue that a machine-learning approach to provenance could allow the detection of broader patterns of unethical or even criminal behaviour that are embedded in the relationships underpinning museum collections. To demonstrate the potential of a machine-learning approach, we present a computer-assisted model that predicts plausible patterns and connections, ‘leads’ or ‘hot tips’, derived from a dataset of unstructured texts concerning the antiquities trade. Preliminary results have revealed what may have been a multi-decade scheme involving the donation of low-value Latin American antiquities to museums as a form of ‘reputation laundering’ potentially in advance of criminal fraud. We believe that such patterns could not be identified by an approach to museum provenance that is restricted to known problems within individual institution, demonstrating the need for innovative provenance tools and approaches that consider the complex networks within which museum objects exist.
]]>This list is compiled by Donna Yates. Please let me know of any opportunities to announce.
Be sure to sign up for the Opportunities List.
Shawn Graham and I have a new FREE/OPEN ACCESS publication in the International Journal of Heritage Studies: Reputation laundering and museum collections: patterns, priorities, provenance, and hidden crime (Available Here). Please take a look and share the link with anyone who might be interested.
We are adding new entries to the Trafficking Culture Encyclopedia. There are now over 150 fully-researched and referenced cases of antiquities trafficking and crime available there. You can fing them here: https://traffickingculture.org/encyclopedia/
Targeting museum curators, including emerging curators, the goal of this course in conjunction with the TEFAF art fair is to gain insight into the art market, including topics of art law and art crime. I’m teaching the art crime part. A maximum of 10 people will be accepted.
When: Apply by 1 December 2023; course from March 5th to March 10th 2023.
Where: Maastricht, The Netherlands
Cost: Free, but participants must pay their own travel/accommodation expenses
More Info: https://www.tefaf.com/foundation/tefaf-curator-course
Contact: curator-course-sbe@maastrichtuniversity.nl
The Victoria and Albert Museum’s Culture in Crisis Programme, in partnership with the REVIVE Campaign, are hosting this seminar to consider present and future damage to cultural heritage in the Middle East.
When: 14 December 2023
Where: V&A Museum (London) and online
Cost: Free
More Info: https://cultureincrisis.org/news-and-events/upcoming-culture-in-crisis-event-heritage-under-attack-the-impact-on-post-conflict-reconstruction-in-the-middle-east
Contact: cultureincrisis@vam.ac.uk
“Because of the research directions we are developing, affinity with the field of environmental humanities, digital humanities, cultural policy, or tourism and cultural heritage studies would be an asset.”
When: Apply by 3 December 2023
Where: Radboud University, The Netherlands
Pay: €4332—€6737 per month
More Info: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/334555/assistant-professor-of-arts-and-culture-studies/
Alexander Herman of the Institute of Art & Law will be talking about his new book.
When: 7 December 2023
Where: Fladgate LLP, 16 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5DG
Cost: £30.00; 50% discount for IAL and UKRG members
More Info: https://ial.uk.com/events/parthenon-marbles-fladgate/
Register: https://ial.uk.com/product/parthenon-marbles-dispute-resolution/
A great opportunity to help ICOM on projects and tools to protect movable cultural heritage including their Red Lists. Fluency in English or French needed, along with working knowledge of the other language.
When: Apply by 8 December 2023
Where: ICOM headquarters in Paris, teleworking up to two days a week
Pay: €2550 gross per month
More Info: https://icom.museum/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231116_Job_Offer_HP_Assistant_EN.pdf
Contact: icom.jobs@icom.museum
The Ashmolean Museum is seeking a collections assistant for the department of antiquities; this is a full time, fixed term, 3-year position.
When: Apply by 11 December 2023
Where: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, UK
Pay Unknown
More Info: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DEH550/collections-assistant
Contact: claire.burton@ashmus.ox.ac.uk
“Theft, trafficking, wars, counterfeiting, climate change, earthquakes, floods, or fires are just some of the dangers to which movable and immovable cultural heritage is subject in every part of the world: the international Spring School aims to provide all participants with theoretical knowledge and practical skills thanks to the participation of professionals, academics and companies involved in the preservation of cultural heritage.”
When: Apply by 15 January 2024; 8–12 April 2024
Where: University of Padova, Italy
Cost: 200 Euro
More Info: https://www.musei.unipd.it/it/risk-2024
Register: https://forms.gle/5kS6DPzFrrMgMsw9A
Contact: risk2024.springschool@unipd.it
The Kunstmuseum Basel is seeking to fill a position for a research assistant for provenance research. You need to speak German and have good English and French.
When: Apply ASAP
Where: Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland
Pay Unknown
More Info: https://stellenmarkt.bs.ch/kbs/job/details/3433521/
Blue Shield International and CHARD hosting this event “to discuss measures to protect cultural heritage and facilitate repatriation efforts.” To say the contributors are “all star” is an understatement. These are some of my favourite people!
When: 28 November 2023
Where: Online
Cost: Free
Speaker Flavio Di Bonito will discuss this topic as part of the activities of the UNESCO Chair on Business Integrity and Crime Prevention in Art and Antiquities Market.
When: 29 November 2023
Where: University of Campania, Italy
Cost: Free
“As calls for the return of objects increase and the heritage and museums field orients towards issues of decolonization and reparation, this PhD project asks how such initiatives might support, challenge or undermine broader strategies of worldly repair.” As this is in the Netherlands, it is a real job, not just a PhD.
When: Apply by 30 November 2023
Where: University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Pay: max. €3539 per month
More Info: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/334439/phd-position-in-critical-heritage-ecologies/
Dante Abate will be delivering this lecture within the Current Topics in Heritage Science series
When: 30 November 2023
Where: Online
More Info: https://www.iperionhs.eu/lecture-2-2023-24/
The term desire laundering comes from philosophical discussions of the concept of practical reasoning, “the general human capacity for resolving, through reflection, the question of what one is to do” (Wallace 2003) or more simply put “figuring out what to do”(Zalta 2005). Coming from studies of rational choice, “the process of determining what options are available and then choosing the most preferred one according to some consistent criterion” (Lavin 2004) there is a conception of practical reality in which “people act rationally to the extent they do what is likely to bring about the best state of affairs, given both their preferences over the outcomes that may be brought about through their agency and their beliefs about the probability of those outcomes” (Wallace 2003). This is an idea that people ‘maximise’ their actions towards their most desirable result, towards self-interest. Yet for this construction to work, people have to sometimes make errors, they need to be able to not achieve the best state of affairs (Lavin 2004). Lavin (2004) quotes Bennett (1989) on the topic: “For a creature to be correctly said to have a rule, it is necessary that it should be able to break the rule…There is no normatively if you cannot be wrong”. People at times override or ignore their “overall preferences” as they attempt “to satisfy their current strongest desire” (Wallace 2003). To be rational, people must have the ability to be irrational and inconsistent.
Yet with this concept of maximisation comes an important first step of determining which desires are valid and worth following: desire laundering. Wallace (2003) states that “[a] popular form of laundering” would see a person applying maximisation to “only those desires that would survive if the agent were factually well-informed about the objects of desire and the circumstances of action and deliberating in a calm and focused frame of mind.” This sees desire laundering as a “correction of desires” which allows a person to determine which desires would be objectively rational to act upon and towards (Wallace 2003). Goodin (1995) puts forward a somewhat similar concept in his “preference laundering”, which focuses on the idea that if a person’s preferences seem “dirty”, they can then be “laundered” before they are discarded. If something is wrong about a preference (or a desire), people are not required to put aside that preference to still be a rational actor. The preference can be cleaned in various ways. But what about a person who is not factually well-informed, and, importantly, does not know this? What about the desires that survive the laundering process because of a mistaken interpretation of factual information? “In situations of this kind, it may be subjectively rational for us to strive to satisfy our actual desires, even if some of those desires would not survive correction of our mistaken but blameless factual beliefs” (Wallace 2003).
Thus, in moral philosophy, desire laundering is a process of applying a rational framework towards one’s desires in the process of deciding how to act. That framework is idealised as being based on fact in order to maximise a desired outcome, but in some circumstances a person is mistaken about what is factual or accurate, meaning that desires that should have been excluded during laundering are not. People act on those improperly laundered desires.
With that in mind, I put forward that others may have an interest in encouraging a person to launder certain desires. To consider this scenario, we must consider the question: How can a person who stands to gain from the maintenance of someone else’s desire increase the chance that said desire will survive the laundering process when, based on complete and accurate information, that desire should fail and be discarded? To sharpen the point and bring it directly into the case of antiquities, how can the owner of an unappealing antiquity encourage someone to buy it when, rationally, the piece should be ignored? I argue here that they do this by mimicking the social constructions of appeal so that a potential buyer feels that their desire is rational.
If we move directly from the definition of desire laundering from moral philosophy, one might call the process that the seller undertakes to encourage the laundering of less desirable object “desire laundering laundering”. However, I find that to be needlessly long and confusing. Further, and despite the discussion I offered above, the term “desire laundering” has only been used in a limited and indirect way within philosophical discussions and it is ripe for constructive and related use. Instead, I propose a directionality break with the limited prior use of the term, to focus on external actions that a desirer responds to rather than how the desirer internally justifies their own desire. In this paper, I instead use the term “desire laundering” to include the actions of external actors, usually the owners of the objects, who engage processes that clean the desirability of potentially-marketable objects, in this case antiquities. This cleaning, or laundering, process ultimately allows the antiquities to become or remain desirable to rational actors who may not have desired the objects had the process not occurred.
Metaphorically speaking, to make something clean is not inherently or even usually negative. Still, drawing upon the original construction of the term, desire laundering can be seen as a process by which someone determines the right thing to do. Desire laundering uses the metaphor of cleansing to present how objects are made more desirable within the structures and contexts they are consumed within. It is true issues such as poor provenance, past looting or trafficking, or allegations of inauthenticity might mean desire for an antiquity must be laundered prior to sale. It is equally true that desire laundering can be used to improve the value and validity of objects that have other undesirable aspects that have nothing to do with crime or fraud. Desire laundering can increase the desirability of antiquities that, to name a few examples, were once owned by someone unappealing, that are of an unpopular style, that are ugly, or that simply are not currently financially valued at as much as the owner would like.
That said, while illegality is not implied by the term “desire laundering”, some of these cleansing behaviours which include professional and institutional involvement rest at the edges of disciplinary and professional codes of ethics. They are normative grey spaces which should be monitored, considered, and discussed.
Bennett, Jonathan. 1989. Rationality: An Essay towards an Analysis. Indianapolis, Ind: Hackett.
Goodin, Robert E. 1995. Utilitarianism as a Public Philosophy. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625053.
Lavin, Douglas. 2004. ‘Practical Reason and the Possibility of Error’. Ethics 114 (3): 424–57. https://doi.org/10.1086/381695.
Wallace, R. Jay. 2003. ‘Practical Reason’. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta. Stanford: Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/practical-reason/.
Zalta, Edward N. 2005. ‘Practical Reason and the Structure of Actions’. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2020 Edition), edited by Edward N. Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/practical-reason-action/.
The nice thing about having a blog is that you can externalise your own memory. Although I don’t do this as much any more, since this blog came into existence in 2011, I’ve used it to tuck away little observations which I usually come back to (years) later. One can never tell what will be interesting in the future.
A couple weeks ago I was working on identifying some objects indirectly for an official agency. This brought me to some comparable objects within the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), part of a massive collection of Latin American antiquities bequeathed by Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. Great, that’s exactly what I needed.
Thing is, the MFAH collections website has a feature at the bottom of every object page that is titled “Discover More”. It presents a spread of 12 images of other objects in the museum collection that are related to the first object in some way. In the “discover more” on one page I was looking at, I noticed a Peruvian gold object that seemed familiar. “HUH!” I said. I clicked on it.
In 1987 the spectacular Moche site of Sipán, Peru was famously looted. Items from Sipán made it to the USA and the rest of the world in a variety of documented ways. At various times Peru sought to have Sipán objects returned, sometimes unsuccessfully, sometimes successfully. One successful return occurred in 1996, after objects from Sipán appeared for sale at Sotheby’s New York (see full case here).
There was one thing that always confused me about this return case, one aspect of it that I never figured out. Peru initially requested the seizure and return of five items:
Lots 7, 11, and 17 were returned to Peru. Lots 10 and 18 were given back to Sotheby’s. I never found out why, but the following possibilities have always been in my head:
But that was the end of the story. Lots 10 and 18 disappeared and I hadn’t heard about them again. That is until I saw lot 10 as a “Discover More” on the MFAH website.
Listed as “Unknown Central and South American Pendant Depicting a Deity with the Body of a Stingray and the Head of a Human with Fangs” on the museum website, it is clearly the same object. However there have been some…changes. Between the object’s depiction in the 1994 Sotheby’s catalogue and when it was photographed by the MFAH, the object appears to have “grown” both some inlaid teeth and some inlaid ear spools. I wonder who made those. Also, a few of the inlaid headpiece bits have been moved around. The provenance of the piece is listed as:
[Sotheby’s, New York, November 15, 1994, lot 10]; purchased by Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. (1913–2008), Houston, November 15, 1994–until d. 2008 [1]; Estate of Alfred C. Glassell, Jr., 2008–2010; given to MFAH, 2010.
Sotheby’s 1994
What I don’t see in the MFAH is lot 18, a gold feline thing. Either Glassell wasn’t the buyer of that one, or he bought it and did something else with it other than bequeath it to the MFAH.
Ages ago, in 2005/06, I documented all South American antiquities sold at Sotheby’s New York for a certain span of time as part of my master’s dissertation. I looked at a lot of South American antiquities. It is rare for me to ever come across them again. It happens from time to time, but most of them seem to just drift off into the void, never to be seen again. Lot 10, there, has emerged from the void, but that is the exception, not the rule.
I still don’t know why lot 10 (and 18) were not returned to Peru, and I am going to email the MFAH to see if they will share anything about it that might be in their records, although I doubt they will have anything. But the object’s presence in the Glassell collection, how how it looks today, makes one of my bullet points above seem perhaps more likely: that the piece isn’t authentically ancient.
Why? Because I don’t like the looks of a lot of the objects that Glassell bequeathed to the MFAH. Many of them look flat out fake. I won’t say which, I won’t say why, and I could certainly be wrong, but there are iconographic and construction problems with a lot of these items. I’ve also heard through the grapevine that Glassell may have been a vacuum of a collector (my words), just sucking up whatever. Finally, lot 10 grew teeth and ear spools that it didn’t have when it was offered at Sotheby’s: whoever was interacting with the piece considered it to be modifiable.
That’s it. I’m just going to but this here in case I need it later or if anyone else has something to add. Let me know if you know where Lot 18 is, if you know exactly why Peru didn’t end up with those two lots, or if you want to tell me more about Glassell and his purchasing habits. I’ll listen!
]]>This list is compiled by Donna Yates. Please let me know of any opportunities to announce.
Be sure to sign up for the Opportunities List.
Join the crack antiquities crime fighting team in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Bogdanos’ team are responsible for all of the high-profile returns and convictions you’ve seen in the news. Note: this is an opportunity for people with *prior* permission to work in the USA, they don’t support visas/green cards.
When: Apply ASAP, like right now
Where: The New York County District Attorney’s Office (DANY), New York
Pay: $54,281 – $57,159
The State Department Cultural Heritage Center is looking for a senior analyst to join their team working on the illicit trade in art, antiquities, and cultural property.
When: Apply ASAP
Where: Washington D.C.
Cost: Salary $110,000
A varied and interesting set of papers in this workshop: a topic that deserves much discussion.
When: 22 September 2023
Where: Institute of Classical Studies, London
More Info: https://ics.sas.ac.uk/events/researching-antiquities-collections-through-auction-catalogues-potential-and-pitfalls
Register: https://sas.sym-online.com/registrationforms/icsbooking50300/done/
Contact: valerie.james@sas.ac.uk
This is an entry level (W1) professorial position that will focus on art provenance. Description in both German and English so they may accept non-German speakers.
When: Apply by 17 September 2023
Where: Universität Bonn
More Info: https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/fakultaet/kriterien
Run by the Institute of Art and Law, ‘The programme focuses on the practical and pragmatic use of legal tools to improve the running and development of museums, their collections and their collaborative exhibition programmes.”
When: 9–13 October 2023
Where: 240 Blackfriars Rd, Bankside, London, SE1 8NW
Cost: £1,800.00, 10% discount for IAL members
More Info: https://ial.uk.com/courses/diploma-in-law-and-collections-management/
Contact: jo.crabtree@ial.uk.com
If you would like to contribute to this conference, the organisers are asking for abstracts and a short CV. The contributions will be published by De Gruyter.
When: Abstracts by 30 September 2023
Where: Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
Register: https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-137745
Contact: beate.stoertkuhl@bkge.uni-oldenburg.de
Held in English with Italian simultaneous translation, this course boasts a strong line up of Art Law folks to provide an executive overview of Art Law
When: 26–28 October 2023
Where: Via delle Pandette, 35, 50127, Florence
More Info: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ettore-maria-lombardi-61b74237_legal-art-educational-activity-7093543790442950657-sMT-/
Contact: segreteria.corsiperfezionamento@dsg.unifi.it
“The conference aims to bring together scholars, researchers, curators, restorers, artists, (museum) experts, registrars and practitioners to explore on a global scale issues surrounding “how” transportation of art, artifacts, and cultural heritage is planned, supported and finally carried out, as well as all specific aspects around moving art during situations of war and peace.”
When: Abstracts by 15 September 2023
Where: Online
More Info: https://www.artmarketstudies.org/cfp-art-transportation-in-times-of-war-and-peace-online-forum-kunst-markt-centre-for-art-market-studies-tu-berlin-9-10-nov-2023/
Contact: arttransportation@fokum.org
A talk by former FBI special agent Robert Wittman.
When: 6 September 2023
Where: The Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Avenue, Las Vegas
Cost: $29.95/$16.95/Free for Museum Members or with Museum Admission
More Info: https://themobmuseum.org/events-posts/art-heists-inside-the-fbis-pursuit-of-stolen-masterpieces/
Register: https://tickets.themobmuseum.org/webstore/shop/viewItems.aspx?cg=Programs&c=wiseguy&_gl=1*1eyazec*_ga*NjQ2ODU1OC4xNjkyNzc1NDQ5*_ga_Y2VC2Q1VXJ*MTY5Mjc3NTQ0OC4xLjAuMTY5Mjc3NTQ0OC4wLjAuMA..
An interesting regional multi-day workshop, including special training for customs officers. English and Arabic translation. Please email for more details.
When: 12–14 September 2023
Where: Qatar National Library, Doha
More Info: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7093159467147497472?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Contact: qnlpac@qnl.qa
This list is compiled by Donna Yates. Please let me know of any opportunities to announce.
Be sure to sign up for the Opportunities List.
Come join my team! I am hiring for someone to do a criminology/sociology PhD on crime and value related to high value watches. This will be part of the bigger PRICELESS project which studies value manipulation related to watches and artwork. Fully funded, real job, visas supported, and I am happy to answer questions but DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.
When: Apply by 14 August
Where: Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Pay: €2541—€3245 per month plus other benefits
More Info: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/329986/phd-candidate-risk-and-vulnerability-in-the-assetization-of-expensive-pre-owned-watches/
Contact: d.yates@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Come join our team! I’m not supervising this position, but my lovely colleagues are. We are seeking someone to do an anthropology/sociology PhD on crime and the appraisal of artworks. This will be part of the bigger PRICELESS project which studies value manipulation related to watches and artwork. Fully funded, real job, visas supported, and I am happy to answer questions but DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.
When: Apply by 14 August
Where: Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Pay: €2541—€3245 per month plus other benefits
More Info: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/329985/phd-candidate-the-value-appraisal-of-high-value-artworks/
Contact: christoph.rausch@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Olav Velthuis is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the project project “The Return of the Medici? The Global Rise of Private Museums for Contemporary Art”. This is a sociological position looking at the impact of economic elites on the arts field.
When: Apply by 25 August
Where: University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Pay: €3974—€5439 per month but at .8FTE, .2FTE teaching top up possible.
More Info: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/329571/postdoctoral-researcher-in-sociology/
Contact: o.j.m.velthuis@uva.nl
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is seeking someone to lead their new Provenance team. The requirements for this role are mid-careerish and they are projected to start with the Americas collection. Complicated but perhaps some potential to do something interesting with this depending on how this role is structured.
When: Apply ASAP
Where: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Pay: $140,000–$160,000
More Info: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/3656418749/
A last minute addition to the list but if you are near the University consider attending.
When: 12–14 July 2023
Where: Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen, Germany
This course is “aimed at professionals and master’s students from the fields of conservation and restoration, art, law and natural sciences, forensics and the art trade”
When: Apply by 15 September
Where: Hochschule der Künste Bern, Switzerland
Cost: CHF 5,650
More Info: https://www.hkb.bfh.ch/de/weiterbildung/cas/werkzuschreibung-provenienzrecherche-interdisziplinaer/
Contact: continue education@hkb.bfh.ch
Jasmine Hartmann, Prof. Dr. Matthias Weller, Prof. Dr. Christoph Zuschlag will discuss this topic.
When: 12 July 2023
Where: Kunstmuseum Bonn, Helmut Kohl-Allee 2, 53113 Bonn
More Info: https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/veranstaltungen/25-jahre-washingtoner-prinzipien-tendenzen-und-thesen
Contact: sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de
This online postgraduate level course from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice features a strong cast of instructors on this important topic.
When: Apply by 29 September 2023
Where: Online
Cost: € 7500,00
More Info: https://www.cafoscarichallengeschool.it/en/master/illicit-trafficking-in-cultural-property-a-global-approach-to-a-global-challenge/
Contact: schoolmaster.challengeschool@unive.it
The first PhD is in the field of CRIMINOLOGY and will be supervised by me (Donna Yates) and Rachel Pownall. The PhD will study value manipulation in the market for ultra high value watches. Apply here: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/329986/phd-candidate-financial-crime-and-the-valuation-of-unique-goods-priceless/
The second PhD is in the field of ANTHROPOLOGY and will be supervised by Christoph Rausch and Olav Velthuis. The PhD will study the valuation of artworks including NFTs. Apply here: https://www.academictransfer.com/en/329985/phd-candidate-financial-crime-and-the-valuation-of-unique-goods-priceless/
To answer a few questions:
Do share this call widely: it is an exciting project and we want strong applicants to become part of our team.
Please email any questions to d.yates@maastrichtuniversity.nl
]]>It isn’t. I don’t care who you heard it from, that person has no data to back it up. None. Really. This claim is based on no research ever conducted and no statistics ever collected. It is not based on anyone’s observations or expertise. It. Isn’t. True.
I think claims like this are both sloppy and dangerous.
Neil Brodie and I untangle the mess of this zombie statistic, this factoid in a new FREE/OPEN ACCESS article in Antiquity, available here: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.90
Like the archaeologists we are, we excavated this claim down but never hit bedrock. Track your facts back people, all the way to real research. If you can’t track it back, don’t repeat them.
Heard someone making this claim? Send them the link to the paper. Or if you are more social media inclined, send them one of these handy graphics I’ve made, your free to use them:
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