Stolen art databases

A 2900-year-old Chinese bronze vessel that was stolen 40 years ago has been returned to China following a repatriation ceremony.

The British Museum has begun a series of measures to try to recover the 2000 jewellery items that were stolen from its collection.

An Anglo-Saxon brooch stolen from Rutland County Museum has been returned 26 years after it went missing.

Australian book dealer Sally Burdon said she will use her second term as ILAB president to consolidate changes and launch a new missing books register following the international book trade association’s recent election.

A Japanese museum has claimed it bought a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds “in good faith and without fault from a respectable art dealer” after it was identified as being stolen from a UK stately home.

An Etruscan bronze lar statuette has been repatriated to Italy after more than 30 years with the help of the Art Loss Register.

Three Francis Bacon artworks stolen in Madrid in 2015 have been recovered by Spanish police near Barcelona.

Four Chinese jade vessels have sold for 10 times their estimate after being stolen more than 12 years ago.

Art Recovery Group, founded by Chris Marinello three years ago as a rival to long-established The Art Loss Register, has split the firm to create a not-for-profit organisation called Artive.

Two large Old Master paintings worth up to €180,000 (£123,530) have been returned to Italy 22 years after they were stolen.

ArtClaim, a new database launched in London this week to track lost, disputed and stolen cultural objects, promises new ways of identifying and recording interests attached to works of art.

EDITOR’S COMMENT – In 2001, I had the privilege of being the first journalist to quiz the then arts minister, Alan Howarth, on recommendations submitted by an expert panel investigating measures for tackling the illicit trade in cultural goods.

Talks have begun once more on creating a national stolen property database to tackle the £300m problem of heritage and cultural property crime.

IN a fresh attempt to help the fight against the illicit art trade, the international police organisation Interpol has made its database of stolen art available to access online.

THE online registry of valuables Swift-Find have taken over the Trace database of stolen art and antiques. It means Invaluable are no longer conducting Due Diligence as part of their online services for auctioneers, dealers and collectors.

SWIFT-Find, the international registry of valuable items, have bought the Trace stolen valuables database from the Invaluable Group.

AGAINST a flurry of publicity on the subject, online registry of stolen valuables Swift-Find.com has launched a new initiative to help identify and reclaim Nazi looted art.

HOPES of establishing a national database of stolen art have taken a significant step forward. MPs on the parliamentary committee who recommended the database be set up three years ago gave the project a new boost after publicly criticising the Government for failing to act despite promises to do so.

France’s Syndicat National des Antiquaires (National Dealers' Association) has called on the French government to reject the Unidroit convention, which enforces strict rules on the restitution of stolen art.