google 翻译：
据信，这两件作品是在 1990 年代早期某个时候从一座中国墓葬的陪葬台上切割下来的。 1998 年，著名收藏家和慈善家谢尔比·怀特 (Shelby White) 将它们借给了大都会艺术博物馆，谢尔比·怀特现在是该机构的董事会成员。 在过去的 25 年里，这些物品一直存放在博物馆的储藏设施中，从未公开展示过。 目前还不清楚怀特是如何获得这些棋子的。
作为对怀特藏品进行刑事调查的一部分，布拉格办公室没收了来自 10 个不同国家的 89 件古董中的两件，这些雕刻品只是其中的两件。 这些物品加在一起价值近 6900 万美元。 由古物走私组组长助理地方检察官马修博格达诺斯监督的调查可以追溯到几年前。 2021 年 6 月，地方检察官办公室签发搜查令，搜查该收藏家在纽约的住所，当局没收了五件文物。 2022 年 4 月进行的另一次搜索又发现了 18 个物体。
Stolen Ancient Tomb Carvings Sat in Storage at the Met Museum for Decades. Now, They’ve Been Returned to China
The objects are among 89 antiquities seized by the D.A. as part of a years-long criminal investigation into Shelby White’s collection.
Taylor Dafoe, May 10, 2023
Chinese Consul General Huang Ping with an ancient stone carving seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's office and repatriated to China. Courtesy of Huang Ping via Twitter.
A pair of 7th-century stone carvings collectively valued at roughly $3.5 million have been repatriated to China, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced this week.
The two pieces are believed to have been cut from a funerary platform in a Chinese tomb sometime during the early 1990s. They were loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1998 by the prominent collector and philanthropist Shelby White, who now sits on the institution’s board of trustees.
The objects have lived in the museum’s storage facilities for the last 25 years, and have never been publicly displayed. It’s unclear how White acquired the pieces.
The relics were returned during a repatriation ceremony at the Chinese Consulate on Tuesday, May 9.
“Cultural property embodies human wisdom and creativity,” with Consul General Huang Ping in a statement. “They are the link between the past and the present. They are also an important bridge connecting different countries and cultures.”
“That is why we regard the crackdown on crimes against cultural property a sacred mission,” he added.
The ornate stone carvings, which span multiple feet in length and weigh over 1,000 pounds, depict scenes from the Zoroastrian religion. Among the symbols etched on their surface are demons, dogs, and masked caretakers of the sacred flame.
“It is a shame that these two incredible antiquities were stolen and at least one remained largely hidden from the public view for nearly three decades,” D.A. Bragg said. “While their total value is more than $3 million, the incredible detail and beauty of these pieces can never be truly captured by a price tag.”
The carvings are just two of 89 antiquities from 10 different countries seized by Bragg’s office as part of a criminal investigation into White’s collection. Together, the objects are valued at nearly $69 million.
The investigation, overseen by the chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, assistant district attorney Matthew Bogdanos, goes back years. In June 2021, the D.A.’s Office issued a warrant for the search of the collector’s New York home, where authorities seized five artifacts. Another search, conducted in April of 2022, yielded
18 additional objects.
Upon wrapping the probe in February of this year, Bogdanos filed a statement with the New York State Supreme Court saying that White fully cooperated with the investigation. The DA’s office did not “[uncover] evidence to warrant charging” her with “any criminal activity in connection with the purchase and possession of the antiquities,” the document, which was countersigned by White’s lawyer, concluded.
When asked for comment by email, Bogdanos simply said, “We did what we are legally authorized—indeed mandated—to do. We conducted a criminal investigation, we seized a series of stolen antiquities (including the stunning Chinese carvings), and we repatriated them to their lawful owner, here China.”
The objects are among 89 antiquities seized by the D.A. as part of a years-long criminal investigation into Shelby White’s collection.
news.artnet.com
