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The Effects of Judicial Decisions and Patrimony Laws on the Price of Italian Antiquities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2012

Cameron Semmes Stoll
Cameron Semmes Stoll
Affiliation:
Warren & Sinkler LLP, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

While practitioners of the legal and art and culture industries have traditionally believed their businesses to be independent of the other, the escalating battle over the repatriation of cultural property teaches otherwise. The antiquities market has flourished despite the increase in litigation surrounding some works and the number of works repatriated in recent years, making interdisciplinary study of the market more relevant and necessary than ever. This study establishes that the number of antiquities sold with legally- significant provenance information is steadily increasing as a result of the legal environment. Also, these objects are less risky and therefore sell for higher prices than works with no recorded history of ownership. Finally, evidence indicates that the occurrence of a legal event causes a slight, short drop in the market, followed by a significant rise in prices for the objects with reliable provenance information. In the end, the auction market for Italian antiquities is inexorably linked to activities that have ramifications for the legality of collecting these works.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Cultural Property , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 65 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © International Cultural Property Society 2012

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