August 2023
London, England
British Museum
April 19, 2024
In light of the decade-long, unsolved theft from the British Museum, questions are being asked about the security of other UK museums. In the last 5 years, hundreds of objects have gone missing, been stolen, or even destroyed. Freedom of information requests filed by The Independent looked at collection records from 2018 to 2023. According to their records the Imperial War Museum had 1 object stolen and lost 539 others. Additionally, the Natural History Museum lost 12 objects and the National Museum of Scotland lost 6 objects, had 1 stolen, and 1 was destroyed in a fire. You can learn more about it here.
The theft from the British Museum inspired The Guardian to do a deep dive into the world of art theft. One of the big takeaways is that materials stolen from museums, libraries, and archives frequently end up on eBay. So might I suggest that we start making checking eBay a weekly part of our routine? You can check out the article here.
May 24, 2024
We have an update on the massive theft from the British Museum, and it is a positive one! They have recovered an additional 268 objects, which brings the total number up to 626! The museum has also shared that they have leads on 100 other objects. The possibility of recovering more than 700 of the 2,000 that were identified as missing or stolen last year is a remarkable accomplishment. You can learn more about it here.
May 31, 2024
We have some news about the British Museum’s efforts to recover objects stolen by their former senior curator. The FBI is investigating the US sales of the stolen objects. The FBI was able to find and return 268 objects to the museum. Unfortunately, many of the objects that were stolen had not been cataloged so it can be hard to prove ownership or even let people know what it is they are looking for.. As far as the first problem is concerned, some people who have come into possession of the missing materials have generously donated them to the British Museum. The other problem does not have an easy answer. There have been instances of buyers not remembering the purchases in question, so when they ask the FBI for more information to jog their memory or help them check their records, the FBI has nothing to offer them. While it is impossible to 100% prevent theft at our institutions we can make the recovery process easier by ensuring that our collections are fully documented. Preferably, with that information backed up in several places but that is a conversation for another day. You can learn more about it here.
August 30, 2024
It has been a year since the world learned about the senior curator of Greek and Roman art who had been stealing from the British Museum’s collection for years. We know that the museum has been working to recover the estimated 1,500 stolen artifacts. We also know that they have successfully recovered 850 of them. What we did not know much about was the team behind the recovery effort and how they were tackling the problem. We now know that 8 people from the Greek and Roman department are on the case. While everyone on the team has different priorities there are two main avenues of investigation: determining what is missing by focusing on institutional records as well as locating what is out there by searching auction records and talking to art dealers. You can learn more about it here.
