The ongoing provenance research project into the archaeological collections of the Allard Pierson has demonstrated that a number of antiquities in its possession can be linked to international art dealers that have been either convicted or suspected of illicit trafficking of cultural heritage. During his fellowship, Christos Tsirogiannis has delved deeper into the provenance of a selection of these antiquities by checking their potential appearance in archives that have been confiscated from various dealers of illicit antiquities. Furthermore, he scrutinized their provenance histories, as detailed by the art dealers at the time of acquisition. Photographic and archival evidence has been collected from both institutional and illicit sources, from which he attempted to reconstruct, in close collaboration with the provenance research team at the Allard Pierson, the networks of interaction between all actors involved. In this lecture you will get an insight into the international illicit market in antiquities and the way in which provenance research can help to uncover this.
Bio
Dr Christos Tsirogiannis is a forensic archaeologist specialising in research of international trafficking networks of antiquities and the antiquities trade. He has authored many publications on various aspects of the market, has advised museums, collectors, and several governments in reform of cultural heritage law and worked with many police, judicial and cultural authorities, identifying 1,727 illicit antiquities and contributing to their repatriation to 15 countries so far. Since January of this year he is affiliated to the Allard Pierson as a research fellow.
