New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art returns sculptures to the Republic of Iraq
20 May 2025 09:44
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Monday that it is returning three ancient works of art to the Republic of Iraq: a Sumerian vessel made of gypsum alabaster, and two Babylonian ceramic sculptures—a head of a male and a head of a female. The works range in date from the third to second millennium BCE.The repatriation follows the launch of The Met's Cultural Property Initiative, which includes undertaking a focused review of works in the collection. The Met earlier initiated the repatriation of a third-millennium BCE Sumerian sculpture to the Republic of Iraq in 2024, after provenance research by Met scholars established that the work rightfully belongs to Iraq."The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and the shared stewardship of the world's cultural heritage and has made significant investments in accelerating the proactive research of our collection," said Max Hollein, The Met's Director and CEO."The Museum is grateful for our ongoing conversations with Iraq regarding future collaborative endeavors, and we look forward to working together to advance our shared dedication to fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iraqi art and culture," he added.The Vessel supported by two rams (ca. 2600–2500 BCE) and the Head of a female (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) were gifted to the Met Museum in 1989 by the Norbert Schimmel Trust; the Head of a male (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) was purchased by the Museum in 1972.The Head of a male, and the Vessel supported by two rams, were at one point sold by disgraced London dealer Robin Symes. Both the Head of a male, and Head of a female sculptures, are thought to be from Isin, an archaeological site in Iraq. While the Vessel supported by two rams is not known to be associated with a particular site in Iraq, it appeared on the Baghdad art market, was purchased by Swiss dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis by 1956 and later acquired by Cecile de Rothschild.Through the Museum's cooperation with the Manhattan DA's office, and as a result of its investigation into Robin Symes, the museum recently received new information that made it clear that the works should be repatriated, resulting in a constructive resolution.
Cultural Property InitiativeIn spring 2023, The Met announced a suite of initiatives related to cultural property and collecting practices that include undertaking a focused review of works in the collection; hiring additional provenance researchers to join the many researchers and curators already doing this work at the Museum; further engaging staff and trustees; and using The Met's platform to support and contribute to public discourse on this topic. The Met engages with countries around the globe as part of its commitment to the shared stewardship of the world's cultural heritage and has established a number of key international partnerships.Earlier this year, following collaborative research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Hellenic Republic of Greece announced the return of a 7th century BCE Bronze Head of a Griffin to Greece, which will be loaned back to The Met for an exhibition in 2026.Other recent agreements include the transfer of ownership of two stone sculptures to the Republic of Yemen, which resulted in a historic custodial agreement stating that The Met will care for and display the stone sculptures until Yemen wishes to have them returned. Following that agreement, 14 ancient sculptures that were voluntarily repatriated to the Republic of Yemen from the Hague family collection located in New Zealand were loaned to The Met by the Republic of Yemen, who requested that the objects be held at the Museum, where they will be studied and catalogued, until Yemen requests their return.
As part of a commitment to transparency, The Met has launched object webpages for all restituted works of art, specifying that the object has been returned and to what country. The Museum has also embraced a New York State law passed in August 2022 that requires museums to publicly identify any artworks in their collection that changed hands in Europe during the Nazi era (1933–1945) due to involuntary means, with more than 50 updated object labels now installed.
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Al Etihad
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New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art returns sculptures to the Republic of Iraq
20 May 2025 09:44 ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Monday that it is returning three ancient works of art to the Republic of Iraq: a Sumerian vessel made of gypsum alabaster, and two Babylonian ceramic sculptures—a head of a male and a head of a female. The works range in date from the third to second millennium repatriation follows the launch of The Met's Cultural Property Initiative, which includes undertaking a focused review of works in the collection. The Met earlier initiated the repatriation of a third-millennium BCE Sumerian sculpture to the Republic of Iraq in 2024, after provenance research by Met scholars established that the work rightfully belongs to Iraq."The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and the shared stewardship of the world's cultural heritage and has made significant investments in accelerating the proactive research of our collection," said Max Hollein, The Met's Director and CEO."The Museum is grateful for our ongoing conversations with Iraq regarding future collaborative endeavors, and we look forward to working together to advance our shared dedication to fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iraqi art and culture," he Vessel supported by two rams (ca. 2600–2500 BCE) and the Head of a female (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) were gifted to the Met Museum in 1989 by the Norbert Schimmel Trust; the Head of a male (ca. 2000-1600 BCE) was purchased by the Museum in Head of a male, and the Vessel supported by two rams, were at one point sold by disgraced London dealer Robin Symes. Both the Head of a male, and Head of a female sculptures, are thought to be from Isin, an archaeological site in Iraq. While the Vessel supported by two rams is not known to be associated with a particular site in Iraq, it appeared on the Baghdad art market, was purchased by Swiss dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis by 1956 and later acquired by Cecile de the Museum's cooperation with the Manhattan DA's office, and as a result of its investigation into Robin Symes, the museum recently received new information that made it clear that the works should be repatriated, resulting in a constructive resolution. Cultural Property InitiativeIn spring 2023, The Met announced a suite of initiatives related to cultural property and collecting practices that include undertaking a focused review of works in the collection; hiring additional provenance researchers to join the many researchers and curators already doing this work at the Museum; further engaging staff and trustees; and using The Met's platform to support and contribute to public discourse on this topic. The Met engages with countries around the globe as part of its commitment to the shared stewardship of the world's cultural heritage and has established a number of key international this year, following collaborative research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Hellenic Republic of Greece announced the return of a 7th century BCE Bronze Head of a Griffin to Greece, which will be loaned back to The Met for an exhibition in recent agreements include the transfer of ownership of two stone sculptures to the Republic of Yemen, which resulted in a historic custodial agreement stating that The Met will care for and display the stone sculptures until Yemen wishes to have them returned. Following that agreement, 14 ancient sculptures that were voluntarily repatriated to the Republic of Yemen from the Hague family collection located in New Zealand were loaned to The Met by the Republic of Yemen, who requested that the objects be held at the Museum, where they will be studied and catalogued, until Yemen requests their return. As part of a commitment to transparency, The Met has launched object webpages for all restituted works of art, specifying that the object has been returned and to what country. The Museum has also embraced a New York State law passed in August 2022 that requires museums to publicly identify any artworks in their collection that changed hands in Europe during the Nazi era (1933–1945) due to involuntary means, with more than 50 updated object labels now installed.
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In the Battle of Muye, fought in 1046 BCE, the 45,000 soldiers of the rebel Zhou army defeated the 170,000-strong forces of the Shang. The Zhou dynasty became the longest-lived in Chinese history, ruling over most of northern China. Their decisive weapon was chariots drawn by horses. Today, another novel vehicle is gaining modern China a crucial advantage over an adversary, the US. Innovations in transport have often led to geopolitical transformations. First the chariot, then the horse archers of the Mongol conquerors, followed by the sailing ship that allowed Europeans to colonise the Americas. The 19th century brought the steam ship and the railway that knit together Germany, Russia and India of the time. The 20th saw the internal combustion engine that allowed modern mechanised warfare, and the container ship and jet aeroplane that have spurred trade globalisation. The need for coal helped the economic rise of Britain. Oil then helped make the US and Soviet Union superpowers, and brought extraordinary riches to the Gulf. The rapid rise to supremacy of China's electric vehicles could become a similar turning point. First, because it enables Beijing to wage a successful economic contest with Washington. Second, because it removes a key Chinese strategic vulnerability while undermining an American strength. Three crucial data points illustrate this shift. At the Shanghai Auto Show, which opened on Wednesday, more than 1,300 vehicles were on display – 70 per cent of them new-energy vehicles, that is electric (EVs), plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-powered. CATL, the world's biggest car battery maker, said at the show it had built a new charger that can power up a vehicle to 515 kilometres' range in five minutes, beating the earlier and also ground-breaking claim by rival BYD of 400km in five minutes. The company also says that by 2027-2028, it will have dual-battery technology that can give 1,500km range from a single charge. This far exceeds the 400km-600km a typical petrol car can manage on one tank. In sharp contrast, US market leader Tesla released its first-quarter results on Tuesday. They were dismal, undershooting already low expectations. The company made a loss on its underlying operations, profits were down 71 per cent and its vehicle sales dropped 13 per cent year-on-year. In particular, purchases in Canada and Europe have plummeted as motorists recoil from the political toxicity of chief executive Elon Musk. EVs will be a crucial motor of Chinese economic growth, even as its overall economy matures and decelerates. Entrepreneurial energies, supported by patient, long-term government policies, have allowed the new Chinese automakers to leverage expertise in batteries and consumer electronics. They have built out supply chains and taken control of key raw materials and their processing, such as Congolese cobalt and Indonesian nickel. Overcoming an earlier reputation for cheapness and shoddy quality, their cars are now innovative and fun to drive. Ford chief executive and car fanatic Jim Farley liked Xiaomi's SU7 so much that he had it specially imported and drove it for months. The US had one chance to counter. That was to work with its allies who have battery-making expertise – Japan and South Korea. But that opportunity has been squandered by protectionism and needless political fights. American companies may be able to sell electric cars in their tariff-protected market. But with costs for imported inputs driven up, facing retaliatory measures abroad and basking in complacency at home, they will not be successful internationally. Their lack of critical mass will see them fall ever farther behind in developing new battery and charging technology, and in gathering the data and experience for the ultimate prize, self-driving cars. For all the cleverness of Silicon Valley, this quest will be set back even more by the offensive on immigration and the vendetta against scientific research. Even excluding China's exports, domestic sales of almost 23 million vehicles last year give it the edge in volume over the US's 15.9 million new cars. Chinese brands made up 62 per cent of global EV sales last year. New-energy vehicles captured nearly half of the domestic market, compared to 20 per cent electric and hybrid in the US. And that addresses a key Chinese strategic weakness: its lack of domestic hydrocarbons. The US's shale oil looks less like a boom and more like a curse, or at least a gift that was squandered. 'Energy independence' followed by 'energy dominance' has not delivered victory over Tehran, nor Moscow, nor now Beijing. But along with Mr Musk's missteps, it did prevent Washington from capitalising on Tesla's early running. China has to import most of its oil requirements. That is a similar vulnerability to those of Japan and Germany in the Second World War. Its crude imports in the first quarter ran at 10.85 million barrels per day, to meet demand estimated at 16.8 million bpd. Only 0.93 million bpd came overland from Russia or Kazakhstan. It has an estimated 914 million barrels in stock. In the extreme case of conflict or naval blockade, China could theoretically run without seaborne imports for only about three months. In reality, rationing and other emergency measures would stretch this period, at the cost of disruption and economic pain. The US military presence in the Gulf is not, as is so often pretended, about securing oil supplies for the US, which now imports very little oil from the region, or even for its erstwhile allies. It is about having the ability to deny that oil to adversaries. Now China's oil demand is expected to reach a peak in the near term, because of EVs, high-speed rail and the growing use of liquefied natural gas in heavy lorries. Road transport demand of 8.5 million bpd, more than half the national total, has not noticeably increased since shortly before the Covid pandemic. The electricity for these cars will be provided by domestic coal, renewables and nuclear, three areas where China leads the world. Chinese EVs are going to reshape the global car industry, and give it the strength to win an economic and even military confrontation with the US. The shock that the Shang soldiers felt when they saw the Zhou chariots bearing down on them, is what American car makers, motorists and oil executives will feel when they encounter BYD, CATL and Xiaomi.
