Lynda Albertson

Thread.

Since the advent of the internet and due to popularity "Luristan" weapons of war have eclipsed the originals selling for $200-400 in circulation. Without XRF we can't know if these are forgeries but the Korea newspapers and sheer number give me pause that these may be modern forgeries, not ancient.

I feel your pain. Luckily in Italy we have great mercati di usati....so I just pretend I am fashionably vintage.

Barney's girlfriend Kako...."I would like a single plum floating in perfume & served in a man's hat." A hat tip to Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson's piece in Yoko Ono’s art exhibition. It is just so obscure and truly made me giggle.

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

When Provenance, Policy, and Limited Museum Due Diligence Rings Old (Alarm) Bells "A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."

"When Provenance, Policy, and Limited Museum Due Diligence Rings Old (Alarm) Bells." Comparing the Denver Art Museum's Douglas Latchford donated Dong Son bell (later restituted to Cambodia, with another in the Netherlands purchased via Marcel Nies. art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/02/when...

Auguri!

Who the hell thinks it is just business as usual when their boss commissions a 9 foot copy of Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem's “The Infanticide of Bethlehem” depicting the biblical slaughter of boys ordered by King Herod, as an artistic element to hang at their ranch property?

Even logged in I got no juice. It just tells me the page isn't working. It is this catalogue, one of the few from that period I don't have. www.abebooks.com/Sothebys-200...

Excellent thread which demonstrates what resourceful provenance researchers can do with just a single document, in determining the circulation of artefacts.

Thread:

Provenance Without Disclosure: The Afterlife Sales of Jeffrey Epstein’s Collection "A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."

Provenance Without Disclosure: The Afterlife Sales of Jeffrey Epstein’s Collection.

art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/02/prov...

Subsidising Uncertainty: Who Pays For Bad Provenance? "A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."

Subsidising Uncertainty: Who Pays For Bad Provenance?

art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/02/subs...

The book states the piece as originating in Angkor Borei, the capital of Funan Kingdom located in Takéo Province, the site of the damning "Hang on to your hat" email where Latchford described illicit finds obtained through looters working the area in 2006 and 2007.

Long after his death, trafficker Douglas Latchford / Skanda Trust antiquities remain in private collections and museums around the globe, like this bronze statue of Hanuman from his 2011 book "Khmer bronzes : new interpretations of the past" now in the collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum.

When my Douglas Latchford and Shelby White antiquities worlds collide....

DM'd it to you.

My own sleuthing of a corresponding page from a Leon Black related document in the Jeffrey Epstein files. @joshspero.ft.com

yep, previously consigned (and unsold) at Christie's.

Down in the bowels of the Jeffrey Epstein files, there are some interesting art transactions, and not just those of Leon Black and Lauder.

Bosnian-Dutch Suspect in Cocaine Trafficking and Art-Linked Money Laundering Extradited from the UAE to the Netherlands "A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."

Bosnian-Dutch Suspect in Cocaine Trafficking and Art-Linked Money Laundering Extradited from the UAE to the Netherlands

art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/02/bosn...

Epstein Files Reveal Opaque World of Top Art Deals, Loans, LLCs | Artnet News In his role as a tax and estate advisor to billionaire Leon Black, Jeffrey Epstein set to monetize the $2.7 billion art collection.

How money moved in the art market alongside Jeffrey Epstein and Leon Black's various shell companies managing gain or loss under Internal Revenue Code Section 1031. news.artnet.com/market/epste...

A lot of open source reporting get's the dating wrong on this piece. The fragment is from the Tapa Kalan monastery, dated to the 4th-5th century CE excavated by Jules Barthoux.

Super nice to see @arca-artcrime.bsky.social get a shout out by the Museo Nazionale Romano & the @carabinieri.bsky.social for our identification of this now restituted, antefix of a dancing Maenad now on display at the Museum of Lost Art. museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it/2026/01/nuov...

Ancient Women, Modern Crime: How Etruscan Women Were Trafficked Across the World "A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."

Ancient Women, Modern Crime: How Etruscan Women Were Trafficked Across the World art-crime.blogspot.com/2026/01/anci...

When you say you are looted without saying you are looted.

Repatriated Greek antiquities include Artemis relief from destroyed Piraeus sanctuary | eKathimerini.com Six looted ancient Greek artifacts, including a marble sculpture that had been an offering at a now destroyed temple of Artemis in Piraeus, were repatriated Thursday from London following a long legal...

Six looted ancient Greek artifacts, including a marble sculpture that had been an offering at a now destroyed temple of Artemis in Piraeus, were repatriated Thursday from London following a long legal battle over the estate of trafficker Robin Symes

www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1293...

Arrogant to the end of his days, Jonathan Tokeley-Parry gave a detailed account of how he smuggled items out and forged documents in an interview for Season 1 Episode 3 - Stealing History (2005). BTW did you know he committed suicide on 9 October 2025? www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNPN...

British Museum Sarcophagus a Forgery; Cervetrie Exhibit Dropped After 62 Years (Published 1935)

The *cough* Etruscan Sarcophagus of the Spouses purchased by the British Museum from Castellani was forged by the brothers Pietro and Enrico Penelli. Enrico openly boasted he made the sarcophagus & that Pietro had broken it to pieces and buried them to age them. www.nytimes.com/1935/11/02/a...