Neil Kingsbury Collection

Object or Group Name

Neil Kingsbury Collection

Case Summary

In 2013, Neil Kingsbury consigned six Egyptian antiquities to Christie’s for the 2 May 2013 antiquities auction. Dating from between 1976 BC and 1069 BC, the provenance of the items was described in the auction catalogue as: “Private collection, UK, acquired Egypt 1940s; thence by descent.”

Kingsbury, a former BBC sound recordist, claimed he had inherited the six items from his uncle, who had served in Egypt during the Second World War. In fact, Kingsbury bought the items at a souvenir shop in Luxor and brought them back to Britain in his suitcase, a British court later found.

Some items had been stolen during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian and Egyptologists from the British Museum identified that one of the pieces listed in the Christie's auction catalogue, a red granite relief fragment depicting a Nubian captive, had been discovered in the King Amenhotep III temple in Thebes in 2000 and was stolen from storage. Christie’s withdrew all six items from sale and notified the police and the Egyptian embassy.

This was reportedly Kingsbury’s third attempt at auction, having previously sold Egyptian artifacts at Bonhams and Christie’s. He pleaded guilty to charges relating to the fraudulent misrepresentation of the artifacts' provenance but pleaded not guilty to a further charge of being in possession of stolen property (the Nubian captive). Due to his cooperation with authorities, Kingsbury was charged a £500 fine and a £50 court fee.

On June 11, 2014, following a British court order, Egypt’s embassy in London received the collection of six ancient Egyptian artifacts in what Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim described as a “historic” court verdict.

Number of Objects

6

Object Type

Sculpture – statues, carvings, bronzes, reliefs, figurines
Fragment

Culture

Egyptian

Auction House

Christie's
Bonhams

Receiving Country

Egypt

Images

Exclusive photos: Egyptian antiquities to be returned to Egypt by a British court order, https://luxor76.rssing.com/chan-8641577/all_p6.html

MOLA Contributor(s)

Jason Felch

Peer Reviewed By

Emma Cudlipp

Citation

“Neil Kingsbury Collection,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed October 8, 2026, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/2145.