The Appreciation Of Ancient History

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Article published in www.ft.com March 1/2005

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3a2245aa-89f9-11d...000e2511c8.html

 

The appreciation of ancient history

 

By Kevin Allison at ft.com

 

The boxer, his hand bound in leather, reels as his opponent lunges forward and swings at his head with an open palm. Behind the fighters, their trainer looks on sternly, staff in hand, his flowing cloak folded over one arm.

Locked in combat, the opponents remain frozen in a scene that is as powerful now as it was when a Greek artist painted it on the Attic black figure amphora more than 2,500 years ago.

When the ancient Greek civilization crumbled, the boxer amphora disappeared along with it. It survived wars, plagues and the rise and fall of empires, only to resurface in 1820s Italy. There it was bought by Spencer Compton, the second marquis of Northampton, who took the amphora back to Britain where it remained in his family's private collection for generations.

Jerome Eisenberg, a New York antiquities dealer, acquired the amphora in the 1990s. Now this piece of ancient history can be yours for just $245,000.

Ancient art has been sought after by wealthy collectors for centuries. The market is surprisingly open to newcomers.

While the prospect of splashing out thousands of dollars on a piece of ancient history may seem daunting to the novice collector, art dealers say that with a little help, and a little patience, wealthy investors can build a respectable collection that appreciates handsomely over time.

A handful of auction houses and about 40 private dealers dominate the $300m a year ancient art trade. Most private dealers are family businesses and most tend to value the beauty of art itself above its investment potential.

Nonetheless, fine specimens can generate annual returns that beat the stock market. "Historically, ancient art investments have yielded 8-10 per cent annually," Mr. Eisenberg says, adding that investing in ancient art has an added appeal that investing in paper securities does not. "The investor can enjoy his objects of art, rather than depositing them in a vault or holding receipts," he says.

By far the most important step in investing in ancient art is to ensure that the piece you are buying is authentic and has been legitimately acquired as well.

"Always ask about provenance," says Max Berkheimer, head of antiquities at Christie's, the auction house, in New York.

The provenance, or ownership history, of a piece of ancient art is the number one weapon that collectors, dealers and international authorities have in the war against the illegal trade in plundered artifacts.

Illegal trade in antiquities ranks only behind narcotics and weapons trafficking at the top of Interpol's list of illegal activities around the world. Acquiring a work of questionable provenance is one of the biggest pitfalls of the antiquities trade.

Provenance emerged as a big concern in the ancient art world in the 1960s and 1970s as countries such as Greece, Egypt and Turkey realised that rampant looting was robbing them of part of their history and cultural identity.

Museums also began taking a stand against acquiring pieces of questionable provenance, because looting was making it difficult for them to conduct careful studies of archaeological sites. Today, a range of international bilateral agreements means that few, if any, artefacts that are pulled out of the ground can be legally traded. Dealers, collectors and museums must make do with the finite number of artefacts that are already in the hands of dealers or private collectors.

A work of art that has been acquired illegally - even if bought from a dealer acting in good faith on the assumption that the piece's provenance is legitimate - could be subject to seizure by customs authorities.

Hicham Aboutaam, co-owner of Phoenix Ancient Art, one of the best-known and most aggressive ancient art dealers, says buyers should seek guarantees that a dealer will refund the purchase price of a piece of art if there are problems with provenance after the sale.

"If we want to put our money into a piece, we need to make sure its [ownership history] is there, because we are signing the guarantee at the end of the day," Mr. Aboutaam says.

One way investors can help ensure that what they are buying is legitimate is to request a report from the Art Loss Register - a database containing physical descriptions of lost or stolen art. For a small fee, an investor can obtain a certificate stating that a piece they are thinking of buying does not match the description of any missing piece listed in the database.

Dealers say that the restricted pool of available ancient art is set to shrink further as museums continue to make acquisitions for their own collections, making ancient art an even more appealing investment prospect.

When a museum buys a piece, it is usually out of circulation for good. It's getting more and more difficult to find good pieces," he says.

"Better pieces with good provenance are going to be very tough to find. We are recommending to anybody to buy the best piece they can afford."

 

Please contact "Hicham Aboutaam" in New York or "Ali Aboutaam" in Geneva for more information.

 

http://www.phoenixancientart.com/contactph...ancientart.html