[MSN] What to Do Before-and After-Your Antiques and Art Go Missing

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

What to Do Before-and After-Your Antiques and Art Go Missing
by David Hewett 

We have been hearing a lot of these kinds of stories lately. 

A dealer told you that he could get the best price in the city for a pair of
inherited landscapes by a well-listed artist, so you brought them to him,
and he agreed to try to sell them for you. Now he's declared bankruptcy, and
the paintings are listed among the assets on his bankruptcy declaration. 

Your van was packed to the very top as you traveled to do an out-of-state
weekend show. You checked into a motel and went to dinner. When you
returned, the van was empty. 

You use the rural cabin up at the lake only during the summer months, and
this spring when you went up to check on it, all the Dedham pottery and much
of the rustic furniture was gone. No one reported seeing picnicking bears
sitting on Old Hickory porch rockers, so that theory went out the window. 

What do you do next? 

-Identify What You Own 

To start with, whatever the problem, you must be able to identify what you
own. If you have a homeowners insurance policy with a fine arts rider, you
probably had your antiques appraised in order to insure them. If you don't
carry that type of policy but want to know more about it, there's a very
good article on the Internet called "Secrets to Art/Antique Insurance: What
the Insurance Companies Won't Tell You," on a Web site maintained by the
Chicago Appraisers Association
(www.chicagoappraisers.com/secrets/index.html). 

Even without insurance, you should have a list of what you have, with
photos, and it should have descriptions that are as detailed as possible.
Don't list just "Sheraton drop-leaf table." Measure it, and describe the
locations of any identifying marks, such as "cigarette burn at corner of
leaf on the side with a cracked leaf." The odds of getting something back
are never great, but a detailed description helps immeasurably. Keep that
list somewhere off the premises; it won't be of much value if it's lost in a
fire, and it could be a map to what you have, if found by a thief. 

After a theft, inventory what's missing and get the list into circulation
immediately, even if that means paying for publication (M.A.D. does not
charge a fee for listing stolen items, but space is limited). Publication
provides dealers in both the immediate and larger area a list of what to be
on the lookout for. File a police report, and send M.A.D. the list and the
report. 

Remember: dealers don't want to buy stolen antiques. If they inadvertently
do, they almost always are out the purchase price. If they have resold the
piece, they have to reimburse the buyer, besides returning the object. Even
if the crook is caught, the dealer seldom recovers what he paid. 

If works of art are among what's missing, you may want to contact the Art
Loss Register (ALR). Its services aren't restricted to just art. Lost or
stolen material that can be registered includes paintings, drawings,
sculptures, clocks, ceramics, furniture, objets d'art, silver, garden
statuary, rugs, tapestries, jewelry, watches, musical instruments, religious
items, dolls and teddy bears, classic cars, and arms and armor. 

Go to the Web page (www.artloss.com) and register by following the
directions given on screen. The ALR is very effective at alerting the art
community when theft happens. It has recovered over 1000 works since 1991. 

There is no charge to register an item if your insurance company subscribes
to the ALR, and almost all major insurance companies do subscribe. If the
item is uninsured there is a small administration fee, with reduced charges
for large numbers. If you are the titleholder at the time of recovery, a
recovery fee may be applicable. The ALR will contact you on receipt of your
submission. 

Over half of the thefts reported to ALR were from private residences. Lock
your car and your home when leaving them, and instruct your children to do
the same. It's amazing how many people don't take that simple step to
deterring theft. Mount Holyoke College did a study of campus theft and found
that between 50% and 75% of all reported larcenies were from unlocked rooms
or areas. During a one-year period, 76 thefts were reported from unlocked
rooms but only six from locked rooms. 

The National Association of Chiefs of Police recommends taking the following
steps: 

"Make sure your home has adequate outside lighting. Trim shrubs to allow
maximum visibility of your home from the street. Check all locking hardware
for proper function and keep them in good working order. Do not sleep with
windows open. Street numbers should be easily visible from the street at
night. Lock all doors even while you are at home. Know who is at the door
before opening it. Talk to strangers through a closed and locked door." 

OK, we're preaching to the choir. Most of you are informed dealers and
collectors. You know about identifying and protecting your stock and
possessions. But if it gets stolen, what do you do then? 

-Report the Theft to your Local Police First 

Contact the police immediately. Refer to your lists and photos, and report
the theft immediately. This is a crucial step to the possible recovery of
your material. Report the theft first, and then contact your insurance
agency and the press. 

We've recently been informed of an art theft in which a painting was brought
to a dealer to sell, and the owner later discovered the dealer had
disappeared. The owner contacted the FBI, which has an Art Theft Program and
maintains a National Stolen Art File. The FBI has specific criteria for
getting your missing painting onto that list. The following comes from the
FBI Web site: 

"The object must be of artistic or historical significance; this includes
fine arts, decorative arts, antiquities, Asian art, Islamic art,
ethnographic objects (Native American, African, Aboriginal), archaeological
material, textiles, books and manuscripts, clocks and watches, coins,
stamps, musical instruments, and scientific instruments. 

"The object must be valued at $2000 or more; or less if associated with a
major crime. 

"The request must come through a law enforcement agency accompanied by a
physical description of the object, a photograph of the object, if
available, and a copy of any police reports or other information relevant to
the investigation." 

There are other restrictions for FBI involvement. To qualify for coverage
when interstate transportation is alleged, the artwork must have a value of
at least $5000. With wire fraud, however, no such money threshold exists. 

The FBI's Art Crime Team consists of eight special agents for
investigations, supported by two special trial attorneys for prosecutions. 

The director of the FBI's Art Theft Program, Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, and
Special Agent Robert Wittman addressed the agency's role in art and antiques
theft in a conference call with us on March 20. Magness-Gardiner has been
heavily involved in the drive to discover and return the antiquities stolen
from Iraq museums, and she was a special envoy sent by then-Secretary of
State Colin Powell to a conference in 2003 in France. She has also attended
key Interpol meetings held to discuss the looting of maps, manuscripts, and
books. Robert Wittman addressed most of our questions; Bonnie
Magness-Gardiner sat in as an adviser. 

Agent Wittman had a key role in the confiscation of a stolen $36 million
Rembrandt in Copenhagen, the recovery of 85 paintings worth some $1.5
million from a warehouse in Saint Louis, and the recent recovery in February
of three paintings looted from a German air-raid shelter at the end of World
War II. 

Wittman also figures in another story we are currently covering. He is one
of the agents being sued in the suit recently refiled by Connecticut
businessman Robert Matthews over the 2003 sting operation that resulted in
the seizure by federal authorities of what has been determined to be North
Carolina's copy of the Bill of Rights. 

Robert Wittman acknowledged that the FBI is actively investigating the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery as well as the closing of Boston's
Haley & Steele gallery and the flight of its owner, Julien Tavener, to
England. 

We brought up the matter of an individual who consigns a painting to
someone, only to go back later and find the door is locked and the person is
gone. We asked how the FBI decides if it is a criminal case and whether to
get involved. 

Robert Wittman answered, "We take it on a case-by-case basis. Every
situation is looked at for the details of that particular case. We look to
see if there are any elements of crime being committed, and if we can prove
that elements of crime are being committed, what we'll do is take it to the
U.S. Attorney's office, and they'll prosecute it. There are different
aspects to every situation, and if we can't prove the elements, we don't
handle it." 

-Documentation Is Crucial 

Both Wittman and Magness-Gardiner stressed that thorough descriptions and
photos, if possible, are the key to recovery of stolen objects. We asked
Wittman to comment on the problem facing someone who has bought art or
antiques, only to be confronted years later by someone else who comes forth
and says it's his and it was stolen. We asked if the FBI has criteria for
getting involved in that sort of case. 

He replied, "Yes, we do. Here's the deal: we need good documentation of the
collection. Whether you're a private collector, a museum, or an art school,
you need to document your collection. You need to take pictures of it,
today. Twenty years ago there were problems with getting good photographs,
but today, with digital cameras, that's no longer the case. If you don't
have a good photograph of the piece, it's going to be difficult to get it
returned." 

We asked how soon after the event people should report a theft. Wittman had
a ready answer. "Immediately, as soon as you know it's gone. You can't get
it back unless you do." 

We noted that there used to be a problem with museums, which were quite
leery of admitting they'd had thefts. That brought this comment from him.
"You know, it's become a situation now where there's almost a due diligence
problem. If you don't make the report, as a curator, where you don't own it
and don't report it, you're almost aiding and abetting the thief. 

"One of the reasons museum curators give for not reporting thefts is
financial. In the area where I work, I tell all my museum people that I
don't care if it's a hundred-dollar tomahawk, I want them to call me right
away, even if the piece is only worth a few hundred dollars. The reason is,
if one piece is gone, and nobody does anything about it, people come back
and take the next piece." 

Both Wittman and Magness-Gardiner noted that learning about all crimes, even
small ones, could help the FBI. Wittman said, "We want to know about thefts.
Here's the situation: you could fit into a bigger scheme. You may buy
pottery from a location in, say, Ohio, and you might have bought only a
hundred- to a hundred-and-fifty-dollar item, but we may have complaints from
thirty-five other people." 

Magness-Gardiner said, "I'd like to add that it's important to look at our
Web site from time to time. Look at what's on the stolen art theft notices.
Things turn up that your readers might be seeing in the marketplace, and we
certainly should know about that." 

The FBI maintains close ties with other countries that report stolen art.
The Museum Security Network and a host of others keep lists of stolen art,
but the key to getting your stolen art and antiques on anyone's list is to
report the theft to your local police first. 

A closely allied organization that the public is generally unaware of
gathers information on Internet antiques crimes. It's the Internet Crime
Complaint Center, or IC3, which was established as a partnership between the
FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. If you were defrauded of
your art or antiques by an Internet scheme, or if you were duped by an
Internet scheme, you should report it to the IC3, which may be found on line
(www.ic3.gov). 

You should be aware that white-collar crime and art and antiques theft are
not top priority items for the FBI. In fact, they rate no higher than number
seven on the list of the ten top priority assignments. 

Unfortunately, some people lose their art and antiques from ignorance of the
law. One of the attorneys involved in the Berry-Hill and Coram Capital
bankruptcy proceedings remarked that before he got involved in that
bankruptcy, he had no idea art owners were so careless with such valuable
objects. "People are giving dealers paintings worth hundreds of thousands of
dollars," he said, "and doing it with little or almost no paperwork to
protect their belongings." 

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/