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Classics For All... or Looting For All?
A deep-dive on an ongoing charity auction to benefit @classicsforall... which will give substantial tax benefits to
Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza's Kallos Gallery for donating unsold, poorly provenanced antiquities. https://twitter.com/classicsforall/status/1334852947675664390
A deep-dive on an ongoing charity auction to benefit @classicsforall... which will give substantial tax benefits to
Baron Lorne Thyssen-Bornemisza's Kallos Gallery for donating unsold, poorly provenanced antiquities. https://twitter.com/classicsforall/status/1334852947675664390
As @papyrologyatman pointed out, the idea "of auctioning ancient objects, which had been taken (legally or not) from subaltern countries, to foster Classics" is cringeworthy: https://facesandvoices.wordpress.com/2020/12/04/an-auction-of-antiquities-to-support-classics-is-the-right-path-to-killing-a-discipline/
On a generous reading, I'd save 7 of the 33 antiquities being auctioned off have a pre-1970 provenance (and those are mostly all unverifiably vague).
But that's standard. What's of more interest to me is that I've been finding the same artifacts listed in prior Kallos catalogs and in other prior sales which are not noted in Kallos' sales descriptions.
Here's an example: a Greek silver tetradrachm of Athens set in a gold pendant.
Current charity auction: https://auctions.roseberys.co.uk/m/lot-details/index/catalog/540/lot/166749?url=%2Fm%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F540; starting bid = £3,000
Previous attempted sale in 2020 https://kallosgallery.com/usr/library/documents/main/kallos-gallery-mikros.pdf; £4,000
Current charity auction: https://auctions.roseberys.co.uk/m/lot-details/index/catalog/540/lot/166749?url=%2Fm%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F540; starting bid = £3,000
Previous attempted sale in 2020 https://kallosgallery.com/usr/library/documents/main/kallos-gallery-mikros.pdf; £4,000
The previous Kallos catalog includes some provenance info not mentioned in the charity auction listing - that it was sold at a Roma Numismatics E-LIVE sale. After some sleuthing, I think this is that sale: the coin alone was sold in Feb 202 for £280: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=3677&lot=196
So, within a year, you pay £280 for a coin, add a 18 ct setting, try and fail to sell it for £4000, and then donate it to a charity auction if it gets a minimum bid of £3000. Which means that the donor gets to take a tax deduction benefit of whatever price it sells for at auction
(at least, according to my reading of the rule for valuing donations of unique items like antiquities to charity auctions in the UK, in section 3.40.6 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-detailed-guidance-notes/chapter-3-gift-aid#chapter-311-gift-aid-for-companies
Donations of antiquities to charity auctions allow dealers to profit from trafficking in unprovenanced, potentially looted or faked antiquities, even if they can't find a buyer.
Apparently, @classicsforall will debate their participation on Monday: https://twitter.com/classicsforall/status/1335288970985549826?s=20. The auction catalog claims the Kallos Gallery has supported them since 2014, so I hope they also look at past years: https://kallosgallery.com/usr/library/documents/main/kallos_gallery_2-vfinal-final-final-compressed.pdf
To auction off antiquities lacking a solid providence in the name of classics education is a bit like an anti-human trafficking charity auctioning off the services of an undocumented worker to clean your apartment without pay.
Perhaps I’m just old-fashioned, but it doesn’t seem to me to be quite in the spirit of the season to give your loved ones presents that may well have been ripped from the graves of other peoples’ loved ones, even if they’ve been dead quite a while.
The rest of this thread will be more info from my poking into lots in the current charity auction.
Lot 3, Egyptian Greywacke Palette, Starting Bid £700. Was £700 on a now-deleted page on Kallos Gallery website, according to catched version. Unmentioned: a 2018 sale at Christies: https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/an-egyptian-schist-bird-palette-and-an-6178695-details.aspx
Lot 4, Anatolian Marble Idol, Starting Bid £2,600. Was £5,000 in April 2020 Kallos catalog. Unmentioned: sold at Bonhams in 2018 for £2,500: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24684/lot/117/
Lot 6, A Greek Silver Didrachm Of Rhodes, Set In An 18ct Gold Pendant With Diamonds, Starting Bid £3,600
Previous attempted sale in 2020 for £5,500 (with additional provenance info: “Roman numismatics auction, London, 31 March 2012, lot 301”)
Previous attempted sale in 2020 for £5,500 (with additional provenance info: “Roman numismatics auction, London, 31 March 2012, lot 301”)
Lots 7, 10, and 19 in the charity auction were four of the lot of seven miniature Egyptian alabaster vessels sold at an unmentioned Bonhams auction in July 2020 for £2,550: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25881/lot/119/.
The starting bids for the charity auction are, respectively, £1,000, £600, and £300. The charity auction photo of Lot 7 catalog hides an unsightly break across the top.
Lot 8, Egyptian Predynastic Red Polished Ware Pottery, Starting Bid £1,500
Was £2,500 in April 2020 Kallos catalog. Unmentioned:
1999 Christie’s sale, as one of two predynastic pottery pieces in a lot that sold for £862: https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-naqada-red-polished-pottery-jar-naqada-1580514-details.aspx?from=salesummery&intobjectid=1580514
Was £2,500 in April 2020 Kallos catalog. Unmentioned:
1999 Christie’s sale, as one of two predynastic pottery pieces in a lot that sold for £862: https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-naqada-red-polished-pottery-jar-naqada-1580514-details.aspx?from=salesummery&intobjectid=1580514
Lot 9, Cypriot Black On Red Ware Pottery Bowl, StartingBid £2,800. Was £4,000 in April 2020 Kallos catalog. I see there was a Bonhams antiquities sale on that date, but can’t find the auction results.
Lot 11, Gold Bracelet Set With Eight Roman Hardstone Intaglios, Starting Bid.
Was £6,500 on Kallos Gallery blog in September 2020: https://kallosgallery.com/blog/44/
Was £6,500 on Kallos Gallery blog in September 2020: https://kallosgallery.com/blog/44/
Lot 12, Roman Chromium Chalcedony Intaglio Of An Actor Set In A Modern Gold Ring, Starting Bid £2,000
Was £2,800 on Kallos Gallery blog in September 2020: https://kallosgallery.com/blog/44/
Was £2,800 on Kallos Gallery blog in September 2020: https://kallosgallery.com/blog/44/
Lots 13 and 14, more rings, both with starting bids of £2,000
Were £2,800 and £2,700 on Kallos Gallery blog in September 2020: https://kallosgallery.com/blog/44/
Were £2,800 and £2,700 on Kallos Gallery blog in September 2020: https://kallosgallery.com/blog/44/
My personal favorite is Lot 15, Greek Black-Glazed Pottery Fish Plate, Starting Bid £1,500.
Unmentioned: previous sale at auction in September 2020 for £688: https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auction/lot/438-attic-black-glazed-fish-plate/?lot=226986#
Unmentioned: previous sale at auction in September 2020 for £688: https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auction/lot/438-attic-black-glazed-fish-plate/?lot=226986#
Buy something for £688. Three months later, receive at least £1,500 in tax benefits for donating it.
Lot 18, Hellenistic Alabaster Lekythos, Starting Bid £1,800
Unmentioned: previous sale at Bonhams in July 2019, as part of a lot of two marble Hellenistic objects sold for £701: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25388/lot/18/
Unmentioned: previous sale at Bonhams in July 2019, as part of a lot of two marble Hellenistic objects sold for £701: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25388/lot/18/
Lot 20, Roman Golden Yellow Glass Sprinkler Vessel, Starting Bid £440
Unmentioned: previous sale at auction in 2017, with estimate of $500 - $600: https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-lot/A-gorgeous-Roman-golden-yellow-glass-sprinkler-ve_D0A49BB83E
Unmentioned: previous sale at auction in 2017, with estimate of $500 - $600: https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-lot/A-gorgeous-Roman-golden-yellow-glass-sprinkler-ve_D0A49BB83E
I had to stop to pay some attention to my kids, but wanted to post these incomplete results before Monday's meeting. Quite sure there will be more later...
@classicsforall has withdrawn from the auction - yey! Without giving any real explanation - ugh. I donated to help them make up lost funds, and encourage you to do so as well: https://classicsforall.org.uk/news-and-events/events/christmas-charity-auction
Hey, @classicsforall, @Dr_MaiMusie, @profmcscott, seems like the auction is still up/accepting bids/claiming to benefit you...
