D.A. Bragg Announces Return of 15 Antiquities to Greece

“Our extraordinary partnership with Greece has now led to the return of 175 looted antiquities, and I look forward to continued repatriation ceremonies in the future,” said District Attorney Bragg.

The pieces were all seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (“Met”). This marks this Office’s eighth repatriation to the People of Greece totaling 175 antiquities valued at $51.5 million. The artifacts were recovered pursuant to multiple criminal investigations into trafficking networks. These objects were smuggled into the United States and laundered by dealers and collectors through false provenance, exhibitions, and museum donations.

“Every repatriation is an act of justice towards history, but also proof that the illicit trafficking of cultural property can be effectively confronted when we join forces with trust, consistency and determination. Every object that returns to Greece is testimony to the civilization that created it and conveys a message that cultural heritage cannot be treated as a commodity. I would like to highlight the close and extremely important cooperation between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and especially its Antiquities Trafficking Unit,” said Dr. Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture of the Hellenic Republic.

Highlights of the objects returned include:

• Bronze Helmets and Mitrai from Afrati. This group of five bronze objects, consisting of two helmets and three mitrai (belly guards), dates to the late 7th century B.C.E. and comes from the sanctuary on the hill of Prophet Elias at Afrati, Crete. The sanctuary and nearby tombs were extensively plundered by looters between 1964 and 1966, and antiquities from the site were subsequently smuggled out of Greece. The five objects were acquired by a collector and later donated to the Met. Together, the five antiquities are valued at more than $2 million.
• Terracotta Beak-Spouted Jug. This terracotta beak-spouted jug dates to ca. 1750–1700 B.C.E. and was looted from a burial assemblage in the Argolis-Corinthia region of Greece. The jug was then smuggled out of Greece through Switzerland and the United Kingdom before being acquired by the Met. The Terracotta Beak-Spouted Jug is valued at approximately $80,000.

This Office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has now convicted 18 individuals of cultural-property-related crimes; recovered more than 6,400 cultural treasures, including rare books, works of art, and antiquities, valued at more than $490 million; and returned more than 6,150 so far to 39 countries. The extradition of another 7 alleged traffickers is pending.