British Museum Shares Images That Could Help Locate Stolen Artifacts

Undated photo of the British Museum in London. PA

The British Museum has published images that could lead to recovery of items found to be missing, stolen, or damaged last month.

The museum has called on members of the public to share any information relevant to the gems and jewellery that have gone missing.

In August, an independent review of security was launched after items mostly from the Department of Greece and Rome were reported stolen.

The announcement (pdf) revealed that the gold jewellery and gems, dating from the 15th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D., could not be located. They were not on public display, said the museum, and the majority were kept in a collection storeroom.

As a result of the incident, the museum dismissed a member of staff and said it would take legal action against the individual. The Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police took over the investigation of the theft. On Aug. 23 the police reported that a man was interviewed under caution.

Missing Artifacts

The museum’s initial announcement didn’t include the description or images of the stolen items. Even in its latest update, the museum didn’t share exact images, but instead described the type of material that it said has been stolen.

“The majority of gems are from the Hellenistic and Roman world, but some may also have been made in modern times in imitation of ancient gems. They may feature images of famous individuals from the Classical past, of mythological scenes, animals or objects. These gems are of varied quality. Some will be fragmentary and damaged,” the museum’s website said.

Other items include gold rings, earrings and other pieces of jewellery, dating from across antiquity.

In the wake of the items going missing, museum Director Hartwig Fischer and his Deputy Jonathan Williams stepped back from their positions on Aug. 25.

A day later, George Osborne, chair of trustees of the museum, said that an estimated 2,000 items were involved in the case, but the figure was “very provisional.” He also confirmed that the museum had “started to recover some of the stolen items.”

Speaking about the theft, former trustee Sir Nigel Boardman said that the recovery of the stolen items would be a “painstaking job” and would involve internal and external experts.

The museum has registered missing items with the Art Loss Register, a database of stolen art.

James Ratcliffe, director of recoveries at the Art Loss Register, said that providing too much detail about the stolen items “risks playing into the hands of those who might act in bad faith.”

He added that the British Museum was balancing the need to share information with the public and ensuring it wasn’t damaging the search.

Damaged Reputation

In order to prevent future incidents of theft, Mr. Osborne said that the museum will do “whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The museum said it will issue updates on the recovery of the missing items, while Sir Nigel and the chief constable of the British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi, will lead an independent review into the incident.

According to the chairman of the British Museum All-Party Parliamentary Group, Tim Loughton, it’s incredibly rare that things go missing.

However, Mr. Osborne acknowledged that the incident has “certainly been damaging to the British Museum’s reputation.”

Following the news of missing items, the director of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, Despoina Koutsoumba, said that the Elgin Marbles had to be returned to Greece “because they are not safe in London.”

The Greek government has frequently demanded the return of the marbles, after they were removed from Greece more than 200 years ago. The British Museum has not acceded to the demands so far.