The Precolumbian Antiquities Market: Reflections, Critiques, and Effecting Change

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Pre-Columbian antiquities are among the most popular items on the international antiquities market. Because of the opaque nature of the antiquities market and the phenomenal growth of online and alternative sales platforms in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for the scholarly community to monitor the Pre-Columbian antiquities market. Studies into this market are limited, repetitive, or outdated; we may not have a real sense of the nature and function of the current market for Pre-Columbian objects. Without this information it is unlikely that we will be able to positively influence policy in this area or effect substantive change. This session will explore past, current, and future policies and trends concerning the sale of antiquities from Central and South America. By exposing the developments through time, and reviewing some of the most prominent individuals and organizations that have bought and sold at auction, a clearer understanding of the current state of research into the market for Pre-Columbian objects can be achieved. Having outlined gaps in our knowledge, this session seeks to identify the substantive steps that the academic community can take towards effecting transparency, accountability, and ethical practice within the Pre-Columbian antiquities market.

Other Keywords
Antiquities • pre-Columbian • forgery • Maya • Art • Ethics • Cultural Property • antiquities trade • history of forgery • Pre-Columbian Antiquities

Geographic Keywords
Republic of El Salvador (Country) • Belize (Country) • Republic of Guatemala (Country) • Mesoamerica • United Mexican States (Country) • North America (Continent) • Republic of Honduras (Country) • Jamaica (Country) • Republic of Nicaragua (Country) • Republic of Panama (Country)

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  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • Ancient Zapotec Material Culture and the Antiquities Market (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Adam Sellen.

    While the growth of the Internet market in pre-Columbian antiquities is of great concern to the countries of origin and law enforcement, we should also recognize that the Internet is a crucial tool in the fight to protect cultural materials. In particular, online databases that were once created for purely scholarly purposes, can be effectively used to track stolen, lost or exchanged artefacts. This talk will focus on my own experience, for over a decade now, of managing a database that...

  • Collecting Costa Rican and Nicaraguan Art: On the Case of Enrique Vargas Alfaro, Dealer (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laura Wingfield.

    In the mid 20th century crates full of Costa Rican antiquities made their way into the United States through the diplomatic immunity of Enrique Vargas Alfaro. Paul Clifford, then a business man in Miami and later donor and curator at the Duke University Museum of Art, purchased works from Vargas in addition to procuring his own pieces from Peru. Clifford's friend Bill Thibadeau of Atlanta and a few of his neighbors enjoyed "block parties" to open the latest Vargas crate and then to divvy up the...

  • Designer Antiquities: A Current Trend in the Not so Honest Antiquities Trade (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Karen Bruhns.

    The fine art of creating new or composite styles of (supposed) antiquities has a long and ignoble history, beginning, as far as we know for the Americas, in the 16th century. It appeared again, full steam ahead, with "Tlatelolco Ware" in the late 19th century. Today, with increasing legal controls of antiquities importation and vending, this art has arisen again. Pieces claiming to be one thing while actually being entirely new stylistic creations, given the names of popular, but little known...

  • Focusing Efforts to Impact the Precolumbian Antiquities Trade (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ramzi Aly. Christopher Beekman.

    How can we as archaeologists best focus our efforts to have a positive impact upon the Precolumbian antiquities market? We will discuss some of the most important restrictions upon law enforcement investigations into antiquities smuggling, by drawing upon case experience. We will discuss how both foreign and American government departments may overestimate law enforcement’s ability to pursue legal action based on a flawed understanding of constitutional law; how antiquities smuggling is of low...

  • Forgery and the Pre-Columbian Art Market (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nancy Kelker.

    Why forgery? "Because," as Willie Sutton once said, referring to why he robbed banks, "that’s where the money is." Forgery is a common problem in the art market with works by contemporary living artists as well as "old masters" having been and, continuing to be, faked. Some segments of the market, specifically pre-Columbian antiquities, are worse than others in the sheer number of forged and faked works being offered for sale in upscale galleries, online, and by independent,...

  • The Many Lives of Maya Antiquities: Tracking Distribution and Redistribution through Auction Catalogues (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Cara G. Tremain.

    Glossy sales catalogues published by high-end auction houses present a seemingly endless supply of antiquities for purchase from around the world. These catalogues offer insight into market trends and allow the volume of antiquities being bought and sold at auction to be monitored. At a time when the internet auction market is growing, and the publication of information in catalogue form is declining, it is important to record and share data from available sales catalogues. This paper presents...