Gold Phiale

Gold Phiale

The 1995 seizure and forfeiture of a golden phiale from the apartment of billionaire collector Michael Steinhart triggered one of the most iconic legal disputes in US history over looted antiquities. The case, which ultimately went to the US Supreme Court, established the legal precedent that false statements on customs importation forms can alone constitute grounds for forfeiture of cultural property.

The story of the phiale, as documented in court records, details the illicit history of the golden vessel. In 1980, Vincenzo Pappalardo, an antiquities collector in Catania, Sicily set up a meeting with Dr. Giacomo Manganaro, a professor of Greek History and Numismatics at the University of Catania. Pappalardo asked Manganaro for an expert opinion on the authenticity of a golden phiale in his collection.

The libation bowl in question had a Greek-Doric inscription imprinted on the edge in a language spoken in Hellenistic-Sicilian colonies. It was through his analysis of this script that Manganaro confirmed the authenticity of the phiale. Later that same year, Pappalardo conducted a trade with a Sicilian coin dealer, Vincenzo Cammarata, swapping the phiale for a collection of art work appraised for 30 million lire, equivalent to USD $38,400 in 2024.

For eleven years, the phiale remained in Cammarata's collection. Cammarata showed the artifact, along with a gold-plated silver cup, to Silvana Verga, an employee of the Monuments and Fine Arts Bureau in Palermo, and Enzo Brai, an Italian photographer. Cammarata fabricated a provenance for the cup and the phiale, stating to Verga and Brai that they were found near Caltavuturo during electrical work conducted by a utility company.

Cammarata gave a photograph of the phiale to his friend William Veres, an alleged antiquities trafficker who owned the art dealership 'Stedron' in Zurich. Veres was immediately interested in buying the phiale, although had some doubts regarding authenticity. Despite this, Veres acquired the phiale from Cammarata, paying for it with artifacts worth 140 million lire, equivalent to USD $172,900 in 2024.

In 1991, Veres sent a photograph of the phiale to the American antiquities dealer Robert Haber, who owned Robert Haber & Company: Ancient Art in New York City. In November, that year Haber flew to Sicily to see the phiale in person and expressed an interest in purchasing the bowl, which he believed one of his long standing clients would buy for his private collection.

That client was Michael Steinhardt, who Haber had previously sold 20-30 artifacts worth USD$4-6 million. Haber told Steinhardt that the phiale was the counterpart to one owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and owned by a coin collector in Sicily. Steinhardt purchased the phiale, with Haber acting as an intermediary.

A 'Terms of Sale' was agreed between Veres and Steinhardt that stated, "if the object is confiscated or impounded by customs agents or a claim is made by any country or governmental agency whatsoever, full compensation will be made immediately to the purchaser." The terms also stated that "[a] letter is to be written by Dr. Manganaro that he saw the object 15 years ago in Switz." This was apparently done to falsely place the phiale outside of Italy.

On December 6, 1991, Steinhardt wired the first money transfer installment from his Credit Suisse account to Veres' Stedron account. On December 12, Haber acquired the phiale from Veres in Lugano, Switzerland, with the transfer confirmed through a commercial invoice signed by Veres and issued by Stedron reading, "ONE GOLD BOWL CLASSICAL ... DATE C. 450 B.C.... VALUE U.S. $250,000."

One day later, Haber sent a fax to Larry Baker at Jet Air Service, Inc., Haber's customs broker at J.F.K. International Airport in New York. Jet Air prepared two customs forms, the first being an 'Entry and Immediate Delivery' form ('3461') that released the phiale by a Customs Inspection team prior to formal entry. The country of origin on the form was listed as "CH", the code for Switzerland. The second form was an 'Entry Summary' form ('7501'), which listed the same country code. The form also listed the value of the phiale as USD $250,000, despite Steinhardt paying USD $1.39 million.
These false statements on import documents would later become a key fact for the government's forfeiture case against the phiale.

On December 15, 1991, Haber flew to J.F.K with the phiale. On January 6, 1992, the phiale was sent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the museum's experts confirmed its authenticity for Steinhardt. On January 29, Steinhardt wired the second installment to the Stedron account, and on March 11, sent Haber his commission of USD $162,364.

The phiale remained in Steinhardt's apartment, displayed prominently on a grand piano, until 1995, when Italian authorities began investigating the vessel's illegal export from Italy.

On February 16, 1995, the Italian Government submitted a 'Letters Rogatory Request' to the United States, stating that they were investigating the importation of the phiale and that they were requesting assistance in returning it to Italy. A United States Magistrate Judge found cause that the phiale was subject to civil forfeiture and issued a seizure warrant. On November 9, 1995, United States Customs Service agents raided Steinhardt's apartment and retrieved the phiale.

On December 13, 1995, the United States Attorneys Office filed a civil forfeiture action against the phiale. The complaint, as amended on February 13, 1996, alleged that the phiale had been imported into the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. 542 because of materially false statements on the customs forms. In addition, the complaint alleged that the phiale had been exported from Italy in violation of Article 44 of Italy's Law regarding the Protection of Objects of Artistic and Historic Interest.

On December 26, Steinhardt filed a motion to contest the forfeiture, and lost twice. In 1999, Steinhardt appealed these decisions to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.

Today, the Steinhardt decision is often cited as an important precedent that established that false statements on customs importation forms can alone constitute grounds for forfeiture of cultural property.

1

Vessel – pots, amphorae, vases, kraters

Greek

Michael Steinhardt

Italy

Goldrich, I. (1999), "Balancing the Need for Repatriation of Illegally Removed Cultural Property with the Interests of Bona Fide Purchasers: Applying the UNIDROIT Convention to the Case of the Golden Phiale", Fordham International Law Journal 23(1), 118-164.

Liv Siefert

Jason Felch