Christie’s pulls Greek vases
[Christie's webpage]
Christie’s pulled four antique Greek vases from an auction on Tuesday after a prominent archaeologist revealed that they were all linked to Gianfranco Becchina, who was convicted of illegal antiquities trafficking in 2011.
The Guardian newspaper said it was told by Dr Christos Tsirogiannis, an affiliated archaeology lecturer at the University of Cambridge and a specialist in looted antiquities and trafficking networks, that the auction house’s correspondence with the dealer, which was seized by police, contained damning evidence.
He denounced Christie’s for neglecting to reveal that the items scheduled for its auction in New York on April 9 may be traced back to Becchina.
