Sign of the times hires from the Metropolitan Museum of Art: the New York institution will soon be looking to fill the newly created position of manager of provenance research, who will lead a team of three additional provenance researchers.
Their job will be to scour the 1.5 million objects – which span 17 curatorial areas and five thousand years of history – to ensure that the purchase history of each was legal and fair.
The Met has been embroiled in various issues regarding its collection recently, some dealt with amicably, others involving law enforcement. The Cambodian government made a claim last year that dozens of artefacts, all of which had a history involving the late British-Thai collector Douglas A.J. Latchford, were stolen at some point, citing the evidence of a Cambodian reformed looter turned informer.
Earlier this year an investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists alleged that 1,109 objects in the museum collection had been owned at some point by individuals or galleries indicted or convicted for antiquities crimes. The Manhattan prosecutor office has also entered the institution to confiscate items from Turkey, Egypt and Italy.
At other points, the museum has given up items from the collection voluntarily, with 45 objects leaving its Manhattan galleries and storage units to return to a variety of countries.
As well as the additional staff members, a new committee featuring 18 curators, conservators and others will convene to advice on collecting policy going forward.
