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Looted relics worth US$3.5 million on loan to New York’s Met museum returned to China
- Stone carvings valued at more than US$3 million handed back after investigation into private art collection
- The artefacts were ripped from a seventh century tomb and eventually sold to collector Shelby White
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New York authorities have returned looted antiquities worth US$3.5 million to China, following a criminal investigation into an American collector.
The items, two stone-carved tomb beds, were among 89 antiquities seized from the collection of 85-year-old Shelby White, a board member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, best known for its annual fashion fundraiser the Met Gala.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said the relics had been on loan to the museum since 1998, with one bed on display and the other “largely hidden from public view” in the storage area.
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The artefacts, weighing more than 453kg (1,000lbs), were presented to the Chinese consulate in New York in a repatriation ceremony on Tuesday, attended by district attorney Alvin Bragg and consul general Huang Ping.
They will be transferred to China’s cultural heritage administration, which manages museums and protects cultural relics.
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“While their total value is more than US$3 million, the incredible detail and beauty of these pieces can never be truly captured by a price tag,” said Bragg, adding that it was a “shame” they were stolen.
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