Customer Reviews

The Lost Chalice: The Epic Hunt for a Priceless Masterpiece

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Long ago I read Irving Stone's story about Henry Schliemann and it piqued my interest in Greek treasures.

The Lost Chalice is very interesting and I especially like it for the factual details. Vernon Silver details Giacomo's life and business dealings from personal interviews with Medici, accesses his personal files and uses legal documents, all to give an accurate AND fascinating account of the chalice created by the famous potter, Euphronios.

Robert Hecht (of Hecht Department Store fame), Dietrich von Bothmer (Metropolitan Museum of Art curator) and Thomas Hoving (Metropolitan Museum of Art director) all figure in this account.

This wonderful story tells of the tomb robbers methods and really the sad fact that so much history is lost when tomb robbers steal these precious artifacts, not just because the artifacts are stolen but also because so much DNA that might have been studied in the way of plant, animal and human matter is destroyed in their attempt to cover up their crime.

Further sad fact is the unscrupulous side of art dealers and collectors in pursuit of their perfect specimens to complete a collection. The politics, the lies, the egos of curators, art collectors, and archeologists make you realize it isn't just about historical understanding; it's about acquisition, pride and money.

AND the very people who are supposed to rescue these treasures from the unscrupulous end up making you cringe as you read how they handled and stored the incredible treasures while investigating. Such a group of amateur inspectors that one handles the evidence and ends up breaking a two thousand year old kylix! Did I say 'break?' He dropped it and it smashed to smithereens! At times I thought it would have been better to leave it in the hands of the unscrupulous- at least they appreciated the value of the objects!

I read the book from an uncorrected proof and it looks as though there might be photos in the sale copy. That would be a real bonus! I googled the Euphronios Krater and I really hope pictures of that are in the final copy of the book, if not you have to look it up to appreciate the acquisition!

So much research, so many interviews, and so much documentation went into this book to make it accurate on an historical level, but Vernon Silver doesn't rest on those laurels; he goes on to make the telling of the lost chalice spellbinding as well.

As an archaeology student who has recently studied the Etruscans and Euphronius, I was eager to read this book. I was not disappointed. Most countries that contain antiquities have enacted laws in recent decades prohibiting their sale and export. However, certain goods are such prized commodities that collectors will pay dearly for items of questionable provenance, making for a flourishing black market in antiquities. My professor had talked about looting and tomb robbing in class. It's extremely destructive because an artifact tells us virtually nothing without its context. So I was aware that the practice went on, but I don't think I had really thought about the nuts and bolts of such operations. Silver's book gives a detailed account of how extensive the network is. At the bottom are the tomb robbers, who are mostly simple men who need some extra money. Then there are the shady speculators who buy the artifacts from the tomb robbers and create an artificial provenance for them. They then form partnerships with men who have entree to the big museums and great private collectors, some of whom will want an artifact so badly that they are content to overlook some irregularities.

Although the title of the book is THE LOST CHALICE, most of the book is really concerned with the Euphronius krater that notoriously wound up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is quite a story and Silver tells it very well. Even though there are a lot of convoluted relationships, Silver sets it all out very clearly, all the while maintaining the suspense and keeping the reader interested. For me the real hero of the book is the Italian government, which despite its volatility, managed to hang in there for decades and get the job done.

I found THE LOST CHALICE very entertaining, but I also felt that I learned a lot, too. Four stars.

This is a fascinating tale that takes readers into the shadowy world of antiquities trading that goes on among art dealers, collectors, the world's great museums and, yes, even tomb robbers. Author Vernon Silver, himself an archeologist and Oxford-educated antiquities scholar, focuses his story on one particular Greek wine cup (called a kylix) and charts its journey from an Etruscan tomb in Italy through several countries, Sotheby's auction house and finally, after 30+ years, a storage facility back in its home nation.

Other reviewers have correctly pointed out that several previous books cover similar material. However, that does not diminish the value of The Lost Chalice, especially for readers who are not familiar with the antiquities trade. The device used by Silver -- tracking a single piece of ancient pottery -- makes the material accessible to general readers and lends the air of an adventure story to much of the book.

At times the narrative bogs down in repetitious details, in part because the author describes a number of Greek vases of various shapes and sizes, all of which are similar to the focal kylix. After awhile, it is easy to lose track of which kylix, chalice, cup, or krater Silver is talking about. On the whole, though, The Lost Chalice is a very worthwhile and enjoyable read.

Near the end of the book, Silver discusses the criminal trials of several individuals within the antiquities field -- trials that are taking place in Italy right now, and that have been ongoing for several years. One of those on trial for trafficking in stolen art is a woman named Marion True, a former curator at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She is the only museum official to be charged, even though many others were clearly doing business in the same way. In fact, there is considerable reason to believe that most of the Getty artworks in question were acquired by True's predecessor, a man named Jiri Frel.

In addition, two well-known men formerly employed by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art -- Thomas Hoving, the Met's former director, and Dietrich von Bothmer, former curator of Greek and Roman art -- appear to have been deeply involved in questionable acquisitions of Greek vases, yet neither was ever charged. Silver also notes that a number of other museums obtained art that may have been looted or stolen, including the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and the Kimbell in Ft. Worth. Even Oxford's archeology lab is implicated, since it accepted payment from private dealers to date certain artifacts, thus providing documentation that could be used to imply legitimate provenance.

Why, then, with this huge cast of supposedly reputable institutions and characters, was only Marion True charged with a criminal offense? It makes me wonder whether she is taking the fall for the entire, corrupt system. She is one of the very few women in this story, and the only woman who had curatorial status equal to the museum-affiliated men. It is of course possible that True was charged simply because she is the only museum person whom the Italian court could find evidence against. I would be interested to know what others who read The Lost Chalice think about this issue.

Vernon Silver's "The Lost Chalice" is a study in making a niche topic - of interest to few except scattered patrons of the arts and the high-brow crowd hungry for new subject matter to impress friends and social rivals at East Hampton summer cocktail parties - a page turner that connects tomb raiding in central Italy to European auction houses, Upper Eastside antiquities brokers and the powerful Metropolitan Museum of Art. Who would have known that pottery that pre-dates the Roman Empire by half a millennium would have kept me reading until 4 am, skipping a dinner party, my daily run and even grocery shopping so I can learn the identity of the auction house bidder in "the green Lacoste shirt" or get the dirt on hard drinking art dealer Robert Hecht?

Similar to Jonathan Harr's "The Lost Painting," I kept with Silver page to page, left hanging at the end of each chapter as I was eager to learn more about, wait a minute. I was eager to learn more about art. How strange. Art is nice and I am glad people appreciate it, but I have never been eager to learn more about it. That's what makes Silver's writing so compelling, I am getting a kick out of learning and I didn't even realize it. Now I'm ready to dust off my old copy of Homer's "Odyssey." I think I only read the Cliffs Notes in college.

Tomb raiders and their wealthy patrons are robbing us of the few traces that remain of our heritage. I may not have raised an eyebrow to this if Silver's style hadn't sucked me in and spit me out three hundred pages later leaving me illuminated, a bit angry, and wanting more.

"The Lost Chalice" takes the reader behind the scenes of the illicit trade in antiquities, following the journey of several pieces of pottery unearthed from an illegal dig near Cerveteri, Italy in 1971 through the black market, the auction houses, and eventually back to Italy over the course of 37 years. The "chalice" of the title is a kylix (a squatty cup with two handles and a pedestal, used for drinking wine) that was decorated and signed by Athenian artist Euphronios circa 500 BC, then buried by Etruscans in a tomb in the Greppe Sant'Angelo area. The artwork on the kylix depicts the death of Sarpedon, Zeus's mortal son, in the Trojan War. Euphronios did several known pieces on the Sarpedon theme, including a much more valuable krater (a large bowl for mixing wine and water, shaped like a vase), painted after the kylix and purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Vernon Silver follows, or attempts to follow, the paths of three or four Sarpedon pieces by Euphronios: two kraters and possibly two kylixes. The "lost chalice" is the least of them, but it repeatedly disappeared from public view and passed through many hands. It's not even certain how many there are, so the kylix holds more mystery than the other pieces. Silver begins in 1990 at Sotheby's, where the Sarpedon kylix was available for purchase for the first time since 1980, when it had been acquired by Bunker Hunt -of the Hunt brothers who cornered the silver market in the 1980s. This time, the kylix is purchased by a mysterious European dealer who outbids the Met's representative, removing the kylix from public view once again.

The author then takes us back in time to the Greppe Sant'Angelo dig in 1971 and moves forward from there, though the antiquities dealers who allegedly placed the illicit items on the market -Italian Giacomo Medici and American Robert Hecht, the much-publicized purchase of the Sarpedon krater by the Met's curator of Greek and Roman antiquities Dietrich von Bothmer, Hunt's acquisition of the kylix, its display at the Getty Museum, the appearance on the scene of another, fragmented Sarpedon krater, and Robert Hecht's efforts to obscure the pieces' provenance, up to the point at which we started, Sotheby's 1990 auction, where the pieces change hands again. Then it is on to the Italian Carabinieri's investigation of the traffic of illicit antiquities and their efforts to return the pieces to Italy and the author's own investigation into the whereabouts of the kylix.

The problem is that the story of these Sarpedon pieces, fascinating as it may be, is told at least three times: once as the events play out, again as the Carabinieri conduct interminable investigations followed by endless prosecutions and deal-making, and again as the author gets into the act and makes the acquaintance of Giacomo Medici, whom he interviewed for this book. "The Lost Chalice" is not dense, but it is a plodding, repetitive read. I don't blame the author. Publishers too often try to get 300 pages out of a subject that clearly merits half that, so the pertinent information is drowned in filler. The antiquities market is full of intrigue. One cannot help but notice that the Carabinieri were slow, and the dealers had an odd tendency to incriminate themselves, but readers can draw their own conclusions as to who is right, wrong, or in the vast gray middle.

This is a mystery that traces the history of an art object from its creation over 2500 years ago thru its being lost, its finding, and its travels through the art world. Knowing none of this before, I found Mr. Silver's writing compelling and fascinating. His narration is informative and educational. Because you come to know so much about the individuals and institutions touched by the chalice; I found the summing up of what happened to them and the chalice a good conclusion of the story. I shall probably check out any subsequent developments on these people and works of Euphronios on the internet as Mr. Silver has introduced me to many new aspects of life in the art world. I recommend this book to those who enjoy history, mystery, and meeting new and complex people.

Call me willfully ignorant but I almost would rather not know that those famous pieces which I have oohed and aahed over when visting illustrious art museums have most likely been filched. Also previous to reading this work I unwittingly assumed that the mass destruction of archaeological sites is a remnant of our unenlightened past. Not so. Silver's retelling of the troubled history of two of the twentieth centuries most famous finds, the Euphronios kylix and matching cup, tell us that greed has not yet been overcome by an educated understanding of what constitutes historical significance or even a desire for plain honest dealing.

Apparently in certain parts of the world one can still moonlight as a tomb robber. Prior to reading this book I could have used a primer, say one entitled "Art Acquisition for Dummies." I found much of the process from initial find to museum display case to be a confusing path of misdirection. From reading Silver's work this is my understanding of the process in a nutshell. The art is robbed from the tombs. The tomb robbers know enough to look at each piece and assess its possible worth. The best pieces are directed towards a local art agent, one set up to take on an illegally acquired work, probably by having a legitimate art dealership as a front. This local agent then contacts an international agent who can provide high quality restoration and the expertise to create a false provenance thereby making the piece acceptable to an array of prestigious musuems. The Euphronios chalice and cup are not the only ancient artifacts acquired and sold through this unsavory process, one that destroys any archaelogical material adjacent to the artifact, thereby robbing all of us our shared world history, and also clandestinely stealing from nations a piece of their heritage.

Those are the hard facts of the case. However Silver's writing style had some unintended consequences. Unable to decide if this was a scholarly history or popular thriller Silver was overzealous in detail and clunky in emotional thrust. I don't care what wine the participants had with their dinner and those portions that I intellectually recognized as dramatic scenes of art history lacked poignancy and emotionally fell flat in intensity.

Perversely I found myself rooting for the illegal art dealers. I hoped they wouldn't stand trial and I almost poo-pooed the outrage of Italy's legal system. I don't imagine this was the author's intention.

For example, the work begins with the infamous 1990 Sotheby auction where a mysterious bidder arrives and sweeps the sale out from under the noses of several prestigious well-heeled organizations. The winning bidder is not identified for the next half of the book as Silver tells the backstory of the Euphronios works. Around page 160 the history has progressed back to the Sotheby auction, but the reader doesn't have much of a heads up. The ta-da moment had me confused and I flipped to the front of the book to verify where things stood in the story.

Additionally I could not grasp the full import of what was said in the one-on-one interviews Silver had with the original art dealers. Even after reading most of the way through the book I still didn't know enough about the process.

That is most likely my failure. But it would also probably be the failure of any reader previously uninitiated into the world of fine art. If you are a doctoral candidate or ancient art is your special area of interest you may follow much more of this than I did. And you might appreciate the same details that I found distracting. For those average readers who are looking for a real-life mystery/thriller as promised in the byline, you are likely to find this a rather ponderous plod, not the epic thriller you anticipated.

The greatest compliment this book can receive is an unassuming little endorsement on the back cover of the book by Thomas Hoving. In the book, Hoving is shown as either ignorant or (more likely) willing to ignore the fact that some antiquities he acquited for the Met were illicitly obtained, and yet the book still received an endorsement from him. If that doesn't explain how good it is nothing I can say will.

This book covers essentially the same material as "The Medici Conspiracy" (though a little more updated due to publication date). The question then immediately becomes which is better. They take different approaches. "The Lost Chalice" uses the Sarpedon kylix (A smaller version of the Euphronios Krater) as it's focus, explaining the illicit trade in antiquities but always coming back to the Sarpedon kylix. "The Medici Conspiracy" explains the conspiracy in greater detail.

I have to admit it's hard keeping the cast of characters straight but it's worth it. Overall I enjoyed both, but I wish I would have read this one first.

Anyone who pays any attention to art news these days cannot have missed the increasing number of stories about archaelogical artifacts being sent back from the museums where they have been housed to the countries from when they came. This book is the saga of artifacts stolen from Etruscan graves at Cerveteri in Italy, who profited, how they were dispersed, and the struggle to recover them.

Late in 1971, a few months before the effective date of UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, tomb robbers in Cerveteri, Italy (Etruscan Caere), dug into an Etruscan necropolis and uncovered a trove of grave goods, including fragments of a krater signed by the Athenian vase painter Euphronius, depicting the death of Sarpedon. This and other artifacts were ripped from the site, wall carvings hacked away. Sold to a regular buyer of antiquities, Giacomo Medici, who smuggled it out of the country, through him to the collector and dealer Robert Hecht, taken by Hecht to the Swiss vase restorer Fritz Bürki, the krater ended up at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where blind eyes were turned to the question of its origin.

Shortly after the million dollar purchase and all its attendant publicity, the existence of a kylix by Euphronius, decorated with the same subject, was revealed. It had come from the same tomb. But where was it now? That's one of the plot lines of Silver's book, which reads like a good thriller. If only it were fiction.

There are many villains here. One can, to a small degree, feel sympathy for those in poverty who know that what is buried deep in the ground can bring them a modicum of comfort. No sympathy can be felt for the dealers in stolen grave goods, and the collectors who buy them.

Most disturbing of all, however, is the attitude of people like those at the Met, who not only didn't care if an item they desire was stolen patrimony, they actually thought it didn't matter. Silver quotes Philippe de Montebello, the Met's recently retired director, as saying "How much more would you learn from knowing which particular hole in -- supposedly Cerveteri -- it came out of? Everything is on the vase." It is astounding to me that anyone with an ounce of concern about items such as the Euphronius kylix could fail to understand or care about the importance of the context in which it was found. To think that such an item exists in a vacuum, and is of value only for itself and in relation to the artist's other work, is abysmally short-sighted and narrow-minded.

Silver is right on the money when he notes that what was exciting about the find of Tutankhamen's tomb, and the exhibit of the artifacts therefrom, was the fact that it was the discovery of an undisturbed tomb. Despite the minor importance of Tutankhamen in the political history of Egypt, this find gave us a vast amount of information because the artifacts were found and recorded in situ.

Sadly, as long as there is arrogance and greed in this world, it is unlikely that even the most aggressive action against it will stop the theft, smuggling and sale of the cultural patrimonies of this world. Items looted during the American invasion of Iraq are still turning up, as collectors with more money than ethics pretend not to know.

This book is a real life whodunit, complete with interesting characters and fascinating objects of art at the heart of the mystery. In the larger scheme of things, it is an expose of the illicit trade in antiquities. The author follows several unique pieces from the excavation by tomb raiders in Italy to their handling by middle men in Italy and Switzerland to the purchase, holding and exploitation by museums and rich art collectors. Alont the way, Italy and other countries are finally playing catch up and beginning to put the brakes on the trade.

In the spotlight are ancient Greek vases and chalices stolen from Etruscan tombs in Italy. The centerpiece is a vase stolen by tomb raiders, sold by Medici to Hecht to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose curators covet the piece and defend their purchase to the enth degree in order to keep it.

What makes the book extra captivating is that all the characters, from tomb robbers to middle men to purchasers were interviewed by the author. Most are expremely engaging. As much of a rogue as Medici was/is as the first exporter of many of the stolen pieces, he was still lovable. Somehow at the end, I was rooting for the guy, even knowing he was a thief and plunderer. Much as the characters in a good novel, Mr. Silver's depictions of the participants in this trade and prosecution will stay with the reader long after the book is done.

Mr. Silver is a very capable writer and writes like the journalist he is. My only criticism is that the book is comprised of short sections a page or two in length. Unfortunately, at times they bounced around from character to character and country to country so much that it was a bit difficult to keep one's bearings.

That is short criticism indeed. In addition to telling the yarn of these antiquities stolen from Tuscany so well, Mr. Silver's descriptions of the pieces with the added color of their Homeric background made the book more than just a cold telling of crime and punishment.

This is a unique view into the illicit art world. Highly recommended.