from : The Art Newspaper
Sotheby's Iznik tiles come from stolen hoard Panels and other pieces are being returned to the Turkish government
Returning to Turkey: one of the pair of Iznik tiled panels (detail), consigned to Sotheby's for sale this April
LONDON. Two Iznik tiled panels stolen from an imperial Ottoman tomb in the Yeni Camii (New Mosque) in Istanbul and offered for sale at Sotheby's earlier this year are among smuggled antiquities set to be handed back to Turkish authorities by Scotland Yard's Art and Antiques Unit this month.In Sotheby's catalogue for the Arts of the Islamic World auction on 13 April, the two large panels, both of which carry Ottoman Turkish inscriptions, were described as 16th century and originating from Turkey or Syria.
No provenance was given and their estimate was £15,000 to £25,000 ($30,000-$50,000).Soon after the catalogue was published, the auction house was informed by the Turkish authorities that the panels were among a large number of tiles which are said to have been stolen from the Hunkar Kiosk in the mosque on 20 January 2003.
In a statement to the Turkish press, the head of Turkey's General Directorate of Foundations, Yusuf Beyazit, said that other tiles stolen from the mosque had been discovered near the coast of Istanbul's Golden Horn.
He said that the Sotheby's panels accounted for the rest of the missing tiles and would be returned to the mosque where closed-circuit cameras were now being installed.
Mr Beyazit said that the directorate's new Anti-Smuggling Bureau had recovered the tiles in close co-operation with Scotland Yard and Interpol.
Dr Walter Denny, professor of art history at the University of Massachusetts and a leading authority on Iznik, told The Art Newspaper that he recognised the panels as soon as he saw them in Sotheby's catalogue and was amazed since there are publications on the Yeni Camii with photographs of the tiles in situ.
"They were made for the last great Ottoman imperial mosque," he said.
"By 1667 when it was finished, Iznik production was in decline and consequently the tiles are not as fine as those found in earlier imperial mosques." Sotheby's would not reveal the identity of the vendor of the tiles but said only that it was "a respected European dealer".
According to spokesman Matthew Weigman, "the Turkish authorities had not registered these stolen works of art with the Art Loss Register or other databases to which Sotheby's has direct access." He said that they were ultimately identified from the catalogue which Sotheby's sends to the Turkish authorities before every Arts of the Islamic World sale.
Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley of the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police told The Art Newspaper that the investigation on how the tiles were brought into the country was still ongoing and no arrests or charges had yet been made.
He said that the two panels, which were collected from Sotheby's on 20 May, were among 15 or 20 Turkish artefacts that would be handed back to Turkish authorities in London in the next month.
These artefacts, collected as the result of two or three investigations, include other tiles stolen from mosques, some more valuable than the panels found in Sotheby's, said DS Rapley.
"The main problem is with due diligence," said DS Rapley.
"We are hoping soon to establish an alternate service so that auction houses can perform an online check at the point of consignment to establish if an object has been reported stolen."Lucian Harris
