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“Sharon Waxman has written a compelling page turner about the world of antiquities and art-world skulduggery. She manages to combine rigorous, scholarly reporting with a flair for intrigue and personality that gives Loot the fast pace of a novel. I enjoyed it immensely."

Christopher Hitchens:

“Sharon Waxman’s Loot is the most instructive as well as the most intelligent (and the most entertaining) guide through the labyrinth of antiquity and the ways in which the claims of the departed intersect with the rights of the living.”

Douglas Preston, author of The Monster of Florence:

"Loot is a riveting foray into the biggest question facing museums today: who should own the great works of ancient art? Sharon Waxman is a first-rate reporter, a veritable Euphronios of words, who not only explores the legal and moral ambiguities of the conflict but brings to life the colorful -- even outrageous -- personalities facing off for a high noon showdown over some of the world’s iconic works of art. Vivid, witty, and delightful, this book will beguile any reader with an interest in art and museums."

Lucette Lagnado, author of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit:

“Sharon Waxman approaches her subject with the passion of a great journalist and the rigor of a scholar. It may never again be possible for some of us to walk down the halls of the Louvre or the British Museum or the Metropolitan without a vague sense of disquietude, a frisson of wonder about the provenance of some of their showcase works of ancient art.”

Karl E. Meyer, author of The Plundered Past and co-author of Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East:

"Sharon Waxman’s Loot is indispensable for everyone concerned with the illicit trade in smuggled antiquities. She exposes the self-serving humbug that too often afflicts both affluent possessors and righteous nationalists and shows that we all have a stake in getting an honest account of how great objects came to rest in our grandest museums."

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December 09, 2008

Interesting question from a reader

First, my apologies--
    I savaged your name badly in a letter that I e-mailed to the Times
today. Would you believe "Shirley Waxwood"?! I thought I had remembered it
from an e-mail sent from Denmark to various persons interested in
archaeology.
    You might be interested in what I said, ignoring the mangling of your
name. I would be interested in what you have to say about the situation that
I describe below. my e-mail adddress is at the end.

 "I've sent the following letter to the editor today. Perhaps it will be of
interest. The bowl mentioned seems to have a provenance of a time before the
Chaldeans came up with the Saros eclipse-prediction cycle.
------------------------------------------------

 "There is an overlooked aspect of international antiquity shuffling which
Shirley Waxwood overlooked in her recent Op-Ed piece (Dec. 1, 2008):

What about antiquities obtained innocently in one country and transported to
another country,.. but which the first country declines to accept when
offered a return as a gift?

I purchased a small copper bowl in an open-air suq in Riyadh while I was
working there  for the U.S.-Saudi Joint Economic Commission in 1976. After I
decoded its markings the following year back in the United States I made an
offer to return the bowl. The offer was forwarded through a friend still in
Riyadh.

I received a polite response which essentially said, "It sounds interesting
and we'll think about it."

Twice more in the past 30-plus years I again have tried to give the bowl
back, once through the Saudi Embassy in Washington and, more recently, via
e-mail to the national museum that has been established in Riyadh since I
left.

In both cases I have not received a reply.

However, when I offered to donate the bowl to the Penn Museum in
Philadelphia I was told that they could not accept the gift because of the
United Nations guidelines on antiquities.

So...what should I do with the artifact, about which I have published
several articles through the decades and which sits beside my computer as I
e-mail this? I will be 84 in July.

Could some reputable institution or individual take the bowl off my hands
while I'm still around to make the gift or sale?

Posted at 08:10 PM in General |

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