Somewhat strange one from the ANA:
... what I find strange is that there is nothing ancient here (some nice Faberge stuff and piles of 19th century silver) ... maybe I missed it in the catalog ...
Culture Minister George Voulgarakis on Tuesday reiterated Athens' volition to block a Christie's auction in London this week featuring objects belonging to an early 20th century Greek monarch.
"The culture ministry is systematically and methodically trying to protect the cultural heritage, namely Greek history," Voulgarakis told reporters on Tuesday amid the uproar over the auction.
He underlined that the objects in question are indisputably part of modern Greek history.
"In spite of the fact that the list of objects is long and detailed, their exact origin and the way they reached the auction house has not been made public," Voulgarakis said, while adding that the Greek state will notify auction participants that it reserves all legal rights.
Voulgarakis issued an "extrajudicial protest" a day earlier to the Christie's Auction House, calling for the withdrawal "of cultural goods appearing to belong to the collection of the King of the Hellenes, George I". The auction has been scheduled for Jan. 24-25 in London.
The protest was also conveyed to Britain's ambassador in Greece.
A culture ministry underlined that "from the list of the auction and from the investigation being conducted, it arises that the auctioned goods constitute part of the history of the modern Greek state and of our cultural heritage, resulting in the issue being raised of illegal export of cultural goods from Greece."
... what I find strange is that there is nothing ancient here (some nice Faberge stuff and piles of 19th century silver) ... maybe I missed it in the catalog ...