Bad news from court to Turkey: USA did not return 6,000-year-old marble idol
Turkey's appeal case filed in the USA for the return of the marble idol named Guennol Stargazer (Guennol Star Hunter) has been rejected. The 6,000-year-old marble idol cannot be retrieved from Michael Steinhardt and Christie's Auction House, which is selling the piece in New York.
Turkey cannot retrieve its stolen 6,000-year-old marble idol from Christie's Auction House and hedge fund billionaire Michael Steinhardt in the USA.
The historical artifact smuggled from Turkey was sold for approximately $14.5 million at an auction held by Christie's Auction House in New York in 2017. Turkey, through the Ministry of Culture, objected to the sale and requested the return of the work. The lawsuit filed by Turkey against Michael Steinhardt and Christie's Auction House for the return of the marble idol named Guennol Stargazer (Guennol Star Hunter), who offered the work for sale in New York, was rejected, and the case was appealed. The US court of appeals rejected the extradition request, claiming that Turkey waited a long time to file a plagiarism charge.
"THE RETURN REQUEST WAS MADE LATE"
The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Turkey "has reason to know" that the female statue of Guennol Star Hunter may have been unfairly removed from its land in the 1990s. He added that Turkey expects to sue Christie and Steinhardt, the owner of the idol, by April 2017, when the auction house lists it for sale.
The court judge found it unreasonable for Turkey not to bring its allegation until 2017 or even to investigate it, saying that "Turkey remained undecided despite receiving signs from its Ministry of Culture that the statue was in New York."
Turkey's lawyer, Lawrence Kaye, stated that Turkey is the owner of the idol and is "zealous" in defending its rights, and said that she acted in consideration of the country's next steps. Kaye stated that this decision will not deter Turkey from demanding back the cultural assets stolen from it.
THE COURT SAID "THE WORK WAS NOT HIDDEN"
Turkey bases its claim that the statue belongs to the country on an Ottoman decree published in 1906. In Turkey's defense, it was stated that it was not possible to investigate every piece in the large collection of antiquities whose whereabouts were unknown. In the defense, the thesis was defended that until the auction catalogue, in which Christie's Auction House disclosed the source of the statue, there was no awareness of the situation and that this was not necessary. The court said the statue has been on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for over 30 years, and throughout the 1990s the Department of Culture published articles and presentations on the subject. "Stargazer was not kept in secrecy," the presiding judge said in his decision.
BUYER CANCELED AT LAST TIME
Investor Michael Steinhardt and his wife, the fund billionaire, paid $1.5 million in 1993 for the 22.9 cm tall statue. Christie's auctioned it for $14.5 million, but the buyer backed out.