Morgantina Silver

Morgantina Silver

In 1979 and 1980, 16 pieces of silver were looted from the ancient Greek site of Morgantina, in modern Sicily.

They were reportedly illegally excavated by members of the local looting gang (tombaroli), Vincenzo Bossi and Filippo Baviera, using metal detectors. The looters sold the silver hoard to Orazio Di Simone, an alleged smuggler and middleman based in Lugano, Switzerland. The Sicilian dealer acquired the collection for 110 million lire (USD $27,000) in 1981 and proceeded to sell the cache to dealer Robert Hecht the same year.

Hecht, based in both New York and Paris, paid USD $875,000 for the Morgantina collection. Several sources at the time suggested Hecht acquired them from the family of Lebanese dealer Nabil Asfar, who allegedly owned them for decades. He sold the 16 pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art over the course of 1981 and 1982 for a total sum of USD $2,700,000, under the direction of its curator, Dietrich von Bothmer. In 1984, von Bothmer published the first reference to the silver in the museum's bulletin, and gave only a vague reference to its Sicilian provenance.

In 1987, Malcolm Bell, the American archaeologist in charge of the Morgantina excavations, saw the silvers on display at the Met and was convinced they were the same silver hoard rumored to have been found at his site a decade earlier. In 1993, he asked the Met to let him inspect the silver more closely, but the museum declined – a decision seen as quite unusual.

In 1996, Giuseppe Mascara of the looting gang was arrested in Sicily and agreed to testify about his past activity in exchange for a shortened sentencing. He confirmed the find spot of the silver was Morgantina, and was able to describe the silver hoard and the place it was discovered in some detail.

The Italian government commissioned Bell to conduct excavations at the site in 1997 and 1998 to confirm Mascara's account. He discovered two holes under the specific ancient house that Mascara had described, and they corresponded in size to the collection of silver. This was further confirmed by an Italian coin in the first hole dating to 1978, verifying the date of the looting.

In 1999, the Met finally permitted Bell to view the silver collection. His translation of an inscription found on two of the silver vessels further confirmed the link to Morgantina: it read 'of Eupolemos' - a family whose name had been associated with the site from previous archaeological data.

This confirmation began several years of negotiation between the Met and the Italian government. On February 21, 2006 Met director Philippe de Montebello finally agreed to Italy's demands and signed an agreement to return the silver and several other prominent antiquities to Italy, including the famed Euphronios Krater. The agreement stated the silver would remain on display in New York until January 2010, and be returned in exchange for loans of comparable artifacts from Italy.

Upon its return, the silver was shown in exhibitions in Rome, then Palermo, and finally the Museo Archeologico in Aidone, Sicily, just outside of Morgantina.

16

Vessel – pots, amphorae, vases, kraters

Greek

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1981.11.15-22

1982.11.7-13

1984.11.3

Italy

Watson, P., & Todeschini, C. (2006), The Medici Conspiracy, London (p. 106).

Felch and Frammolino, Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum (2011) Chapter 7

Liv Siefert

Vanessa Rousseau

Jason Felch