Antique advertised for illegal sale online

Victor Pulis

Jul 4th 2011, 07:26

@ Reuben D Spiteri

You gave us permision to call you ignorant so here I am, You're ignorant and the fact that you don't care makes you even more so. I would be thrilled to find out what you would regard as precious.
Clayton Mangion you may join hands with Reuben. If you see no difference between an ancient amphora (You wouldn't know the meaning of the word) and one bought at tal lira you have my sympathy.

Jonathan Camilleri

Jul 4th 2011, 07:18

It would have been diligent of the Times to confirm Mr. Anastasi's statements by referring to the legislation and the relevant legal notices, for the legally inclined.

Brushing through the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act 1971 (http://www.commonlii.org/mt/legis/consol_act/twacza441.pdf), I could not find any references to verify Mr. Anastasi's claims.

Mr julian caruana

Jul 3rd 2011, 23:15

@ SYLVIA ZAMMIT,

interesting to read your comment. same thing happened four years ago in rural SIGGIEWI , follwoing a storm enemalta truck with three men turned up to fix a damaged pole right next to a very old farmhouse, they stole a 400 year old statue of san nikola from a nicca. A local framer pointed it out to me . very sad, i bet there is some clan who knows very well what they are doing and then sell it illegaly. maybe enemalta should do an internal investigation.

anyway how do you think most antiquea are acquired?????

Mr Joe Xuereb

Jul 3rd 2011, 20:19

@Reuben Spiteri.
The value of an antique is not in the object itself so much but in its history, its provenance. So, a bird-brain with more money than sense would pay good money for an amphora found somewhere; other than this s/he knows nothing. So, hes got an old amphora. If, for the sake of argument I was interested in buying it - which I wouldnt in a million years - I would not consider the purchase because to me the value is, above everything else, in its history. Imagine a Caravaggio without a signature or knowing anything about who painted it when and where. Without this info. the painting is a mere canvas with daubs of pretty paint over it. What gives it its unique value is know what it means in relation to the artists output and in relation to other painters of the time and since. I doubt that Spiteri is still with us on this. As much as I am always thinking that my comments generally are just to frequent, I chanced upon this article and I could not let sheer ignorance go unchallenged.
I travel widely in Turkey and without my love for all that is ancient, my life would be impoverished indeed (no Spiteri, not poor as in no money). I get approached by criminals believing - rubbing their hands - they are talking to a treasure-hunter. They produced a magnificent collier - that is a necklace - Byzantine, heave coral beads and silver connects and a pendant weighing at least a pound. It was wonderful handling it (I did not question its genuineness at the time). They wanted me to smuggle it out of Turkey and sell abroad. I washed my hand of the whole deal. Pathetic creatures. Lacking any sense of history and where it was found and where, the claim that it was Byzantine is pretty meaningless especially if it turned out to be a fake. Without a history it is only worth its intrinsic material, maybe a few hundred pounds at most. Of course criminals expect much more especially if they went to the bother of constructing a fake. With a known history, such an antique is worth millions(otherwise it is very difficult if not impossible and futile to value such artefacts. A pound of best butter it ain't!). Personally, I would say it is priceless. But whatever it was, it was a wonderful feeling to hold it in the palm of my hands and took pictures of it with my zoom lens. The criminals eyes fairly glistened then, I noticed.

Mr Clayton Mangion

Jul 3rd 2011, 17:27

Kif tridni nkun naf il ligi la hatt ma jedlek xejn !! U tamel agheb fuq bicca vazun ahjar tqumu mir raqda u namlu xi haga habba loli tal hajja !!! U kieku stess tal lira andhom bhalu irhas u ahjar!

adrian sammut

Jul 3rd 2011, 12:51

Jien naf li tghidx kemm gieli telghu max-xbieki ,amfori simili bhal din u affarijiet ohra ta valur storiku waqt li xi sajjieda jkunu qed jistadu bit-tkaxkir u jispiccaw ma jinghatawx lil-muzewijiet. Gieli ukoll jintefghu lura fil-bahar .!

Ms Sylvia Zammit

Jul 3rd 2011, 12:32

Please be on the lookout for a big antique lamp that has been on a dilapidated (but protected) farmhouse in Zabbar for ages.On Tue 29th - a Public Holiday - an Enemalta lifter truck turned up, with 3 men.They removed the lamp - illegally I suspect - saying it was to be taken to a museum!!!

Reuben D. Spiteri

Jul 3rd 2011, 11:43

What's all the fuss about some piece of junk found at sea? Call me ignorant all you want (who cares) but frankly I wouldn't spend €1 on that, let alone think to report someone for selling it.

Heritage.... gimme a break.

Mr john vella

Jul 3rd 2011, 11:33

It deserve full recognition and credit to be passed on to Patrick Cooke, this Times of Malta reporter did the honorable thing to investigate! only the Good Lord know how much more items are in private homes or private collectors waiting to be sold or shipped out of the country.
Here again our government is no were to be found. I strongly believe it is his duty and obligation to look after our nation's heritage. Are we so busy not to afford to have someone looking for such items that come up for sale as an example? Ones these items leave the island they are gone for ever.
As of lately I lost count of New director appointments yet for our national heritage it seem those responsible are too busy!

MALCOLM SEYCHELL

Jul 3rd 2011, 11:23

Is Mr Anastasi serious??? We are not even arresting rapists. Allahares jarrestaw il dan li probabilment qas kien jaf il ligi xi tghid