In the presence of the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, the repatriation ceremony of an Attic melanomorphic relic from the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, took place at the Embassy of Greece in Washington DC.

The 12 cm high treasure, which was presented by Glencairn Museum curator Wendy Closterman, bears, on a white background, a black and white representation of an Athena versus Giant battle with two soldiers on either side of the battle. It is a find from the excavation of tomb 14, in the Kerameikos cemetery of Athens. The vase came to light in 1910 and was removed under unknown circumstances between 1936 and 1976, according to research by the Museum and the Ministry of Culture through the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Property.

The Museum informed the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Property of its decision to return the relic to Greece. The object, after its removal from Greece, was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York in December 1973 as part of the sale of the Hagop Kevorkian Fund’s assets. The individual who purchased it at the auction subsequently donated it anonymously to the American Museum.

In her address, Lina Mendoni expressed her deepest gratitude to the management and staff of the Glencairn Museum for its decision, an act of “enormous symbolic and essential importance”, noting that “this small, but exceptional, example of ancient Greek ceramics and pottery is returning to its home, thanks to the generous and symbolically important gesture of the Museum’s Director Dr. Brian Henderson. It is particularly significant that this repatriation did not result from an official claim by the Greek authorities. Rather, it was initiated by the Glencairn Museum itself, as part of the process of re-verifying the provenance of objects in the collections.”

The Minister of Culture stressed that “demonstrating scientific integrity and professional ethics, but also deep sensitivity and respect for Greek cultural heritage, the leadership of the Glencairn Museum -under the guidance of Dr. Henderson- acted without hesitation in doing something that is institutionally and ethically absolutely correct. By returning this small but important artefact to the land from which it was illegally removed, they confirm that true excellence in museum management is not measured by the size or grandeur of collections, but by their commitment to due diligence and ethical responsibility for their creation.”

The ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Greece in Washington, Ekaterini Nasika and members of the diplomatic mission. From the Ministry of Culture, the Head of the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Property, Vaso Papageorgiou, and officials attended the ceremony.