Manhattan District Attorney Repatriates Three Antiquities to Mexico
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr.’s office announced the repatriation of three antiquities valued at $160,000 to Mexico, including one that had been seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The objects include a Standing Male Figure (ca. 100–400) sold by Merrin Gallery and donated to the Met, an Xochipala Bowl (ca. 1200–900 B.C.E.) that had appeared at Merrin Gallery and was seized in December, and an Aztec Obsidian Micro-Blade Core (ca. 1000–1500) seized from Eugene Alexander in October; the returns stem from multiple trafficking investigations, including one that led to Alexander’s conviction last summer. The DA’s office said this is its sixth repatriation to Mexico, totaling 52 antiquities valued at more than $13 million. The Antiquities Trafficking Unit reported it has secured 18 convictions, recovered nearly 6,400 cultural objects valued at more than $490 million, returned more than 6,000 objects to 38 countries, and has seven pending extraditions of alleged traffickers.
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This story was covered in Lost Masters, Looted Legacies, and Monument Rollbacks