Thursday, January 20, 2011

Boy George, Righter of Wrongs


According to this BBC News article, Boy George recently returned a looted icon from Cyprus that he had bought in 1985. He was unaware of the origin of the piece and actually assumed it was Russian. The repatriation was apparently a goodwill gesture after a bishop saw the piece in an interview with Boy George in his home. He said in the audio interview that he wasn't surprised to hear it had been looted because of the quality of the piece. He enthusiastically returned the piece to it's original home in a Cyprus church and received a smaller icon as a thank you.

Let this be a lesson to you occasional collectors: double check the origins of all your pieces, don't buy it if it's been looted, and don't assume things are Russian.

Cyprus has been a particular target for looting and black market antiquities since Turkey invaded in 1974. You can read about more about their plundered heritage here.

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