Displaying items by tag: indian artifacts

The U.S.-based Annenberg Foundation purchased 21 sacred Hopi masks at an auction in Paris on Monday, December 9. The Foundation acquired the works, which are worn by dancers during religious ceremonies and considered to be living beings, solely for the purpose of returning them to their rightful owner.

A number of groups, including the U.S. embassy, had attempted to block Monday’s sale. Advocacy group Survival International challenged the auction in court on behalf of the Hopi tribe, but the case was dismissed by a judge who ruled the sale legal in France. The sale of sacred Indian artifacts has been outlawed in the U.S. since 1990 but the law does not extend to overseas transactions. Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, director of the California-based foundation, decided to buy the masks after Survival International’s lawsuit failed.

The Annenberg Foundation helps fund non-profit organizations across the world. 

Subhash Kapoor, a once-established antiquities dealer in New York, has been the source of much controversy over the past few months. In July, authorities asked American museums to search their collections for any works obtained from Kapoor after it was revealed that he was in possession of looted antiquities. Allegedly, Kapoor has trafficked more than $100 million worth of stolen Indian artifacts and on December 5, authorities added to his list of thefts after a raid at the Port of Newark.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with Homeland Security Investigations teamed up with Indian authorities and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and seized more than $5 million worth of artifacts including a 14^th century statue of the Hindu deity, Parvati, and four bronze figures from India’s Tamil Nadu region. It is believed that all of the works were stolen from Indian temples. The The Parvati statue has been in the possession of six different dealers and is marred by a litany of false provenances despite being listed on an Interpol database of stolen artworks.

Kapoor ran the Art of the Past Gallery on Madison Avenue from 1974 until his arrest last July. He has donated and sold antiquities to many distinguished institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kapoor is currently facing criminal charges in India.