No subject

=20
Just per chance I came accross a very well written paper on the Indian =
art-smuggler Vaman Ghiya, which was published in "The New Yorker", 5th =
May 2007 (see link below).  I do not remember to have read it in the =
"msn-list", but it might also be that I simply overlooked it, in which =
case forgive me.
=20


The Idol Thief
Inside one of the biggest antiquities-smuggling rings in history.
by Patrick Radden Keefe=20
May 7, 2007 Text Size:=20


On Vaman Ghiya=E2=80=99s properties, the police found paintings, =
sculptures, and a dismantled Mogul pavilion the size of a house.

Jaipur Early one morning in June, 2003, two dozen police officers drew =
their guns and prepared to raid a stately three-story brick-and-concrete =
home on a corner lot in Everest Colony, a quiet residential neighborhood =
on the outskirts of the Indian city of Jaipur. Several khaki-clad =
officers scaled the imposing stone wall surrounding the house, disarmed =
a guard, and opened the gate. Under the gaze of a security camera, the =
rest of the team filed silently onto the property. The raid was the =
culmination of a yearlong investigation and months of surveillance, =
during which officers had posed as vagrants and fruit peddlers. They had =
timed the strike for dawn, hoping to startle the inhabitants.=20

The officers called out, =E2=80=9COpen the door!=E2=80=9D and banged on =
the locked front entrance. They waited, but no one came. Then someone =
spotted smoke billowing from a third-floor window. The superintendent of =
police, Anand Shrivastava, ordered his men to break down the door. They =
ran upstairs to the master bedroom, where they found the owner, Vaman =
Narayan Ghiya, standing in his pajamas, hurriedly throwing documents =
into an improvised fire on the floor.=20

=E2=80=9CHow dare you?=E2=80=9D Ghiya shouted. =E2=80=9CHow could you =
enter my house?=E2=80=9D He cursed at the officers who rushed to =
restrain him, struggling and shouting, =E2=80=9CYou cannot touch =
me!=E2=80=9D

The police led Ghiya away, and gathered his wife, son, and two =
daughters, who had been awakened by the raid. Then Superintendent =
Shrivastava and his men searched the house, spending hours rummaging =
through the elegant rooms. Behind the wood panelling of Ghiya=E2=80=99s =
private study, the officers discovered a set of secret cupboards, which =
held hundreds of photographs of ancient Indian sculptures: graceful =
stone figures of the deities Vishnu, Shiva, and Parvati and =
Parvati=E2=80=99s elephant-headed son, Ganesha; Jain Tirthankaras and =
Chola bronzes; dancing goddesses with many arms and melon breasts, =
festooned with delicately rendered ornaments. The photographs were color =
snapshots, and the objects pictured sat outdoors, in patches of grass or =
mud. Many evidently had been roughly pried away from temple walls and =
were missing limbs or heads. The police also discovered sixty-eight =
glossy auction catalogues from Sotheby=E2=80=99s and Christie=E2=80=99s =
in London and New York.=20

This stash seemed to confirm Shrivastava=E2=80=99s suspicion that Vaman =
Ghiya operated one of the most extensive and sophisticated clandestine =
antiquities rings in history, and that he had grown rich in the past =
three decades by smuggling thousands of Indian antiques to auction =
houses and private collectors in the West. The police found no =
sculptures in Ghiya=E2=80=99s home. But, in the days that followed, =
Shrivastava=E2=80=99s men raided half a dozen properties that Ghiya =
owned around Jaipur, his farm outside the city, and various godowns, or =
storage facilities, in Mathura and Delhi. They discovered antique =
paintings, swords and shields, marble panels, stone pillars, three =
hundred and forty-eight pieces of sculpture, and a dismantled Mogul =
pavilion the size of a small house.

Vaman Ghiya was an enigma in Jaipur=E2=80=99s tight-knit art world. A =
handsome man with silvering hair, small, nervous eyes, and an aloof, =
imperious manner, he wore elegant suits and conducted business in =
Jaipur=E2=80=99s nicest hotels. People who know him say that he spent =
much of the year travelling and maintained a single-minded focus on =
business. He distrusted even his closest associates. =E2=80=9CHe =
wouldn=E2=80=99t make small talk. He just wanted to do the =
deal,=E2=80=9D one of his buyers told me. =E2=80=9CHe was totally =
opaque.=E2=80=9D=20

Ghiya=E2=80=99s legitimate business was the Crafts Palace, a colossal =
handicrafts showroom on Jaipur=E2=80=99s Amer Road. Jaipur is a =
prosperous city of nearly three million people, the capital of the =
northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan. With its picturesque old =
quarter=E2=80=94known as the Pink City, for its grapefruit-colored =
architecture=E2=80=94and elaborate Rajput palaces in the surrounding =
countryside, Jaipur has long been a major stop on the tourist route =
through India. It is the center of India=E2=80=99s gemstone industry, =
and of a flourishing trade in handicrafts=E2=80=94small, mass-produced =
brass animals and other figurines that are sold to tourists and exported =
in bulk.=20

Ghiya=E2=80=99s handicrafts business had many hallmarks of a front. =
India=E2=80=99s Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, passed in 1972, is a =
particularly stringent measure, which requires that any privately owned =
work of art that is more than a hundred years old be registered with the =
government. Since it is generally illegal to export such objects, to be =
an antique dealer in India with an international clientele is also =
arguably to be a criminal. But Indian customs officers are required to =
check only ten per cent of any large shipment of exports, and smugglers =
frequently bury a single priceless statue in a giant case of =
bric-a-brac. Other Jaipur handicrafts dealers told the police that they =
knew nothing about Ghiya=E2=80=99s buyers or suppliers. His ostensibly =
thriving enterprise seemed to have no connection to the local economy, =
and Ghiya spent very little time at the showroom; his son, who was in =
his twenties, ran the shop.=20

In the summer of 2002, posing undercover as antique buyers, Anand =
Shrivastava and his men had rounded up a gang of thirty-four temple =
thieves who were trying to sell looted Hindu idols on the black market. =
Although the statues had little artistic merit, and were not antiques, =
the thieves were demanding high prices. Shrivastava wondered whether =
some wealthy local buyer might be driving up prices; when interrogated, =
the thieves all told him that it was Vaman Narayan Ghiya. =E2=80=9CHe is =
the king of this world,=E2=80=9D they said.=20

Shrivastava, who is thirty-seven, has a sharp, vulpine nose and a neat =
mustache. =E2=80=9CFirst, let me take out all the literature,=E2=80=9D =
he said when I visited him last summer at his new post, in Bharatpur, a =
town several hours northeast of Jaipur. The Indian police force is =
punctiliously hierarchical, and Shrivastava carries himself with an air =
of impatient authority. When we traversed the fifty yards from his =
official residence to his office, he insisted that we do so in a =
government-issue sedan, driven by an unsmiling chauffeur. We sat at =
Shrivastava=E2=80=99s sprawling desk, in an office with two =
air-conditioners and four ceiling fans, and ate pomegranate seeds while =
a deputy unwrapped a series of large red blankets tied with string, =
revealing stacks of art-history books and monographs, photocopied =
articles and evidence reports, and dozens of auction catalogues.=20

=E2=80=9CThis is just a glimpse,=E2=80=9D Shrivastava said with evident =
pride. =E2=80=9CAll of my photographs and literature filled two =
rooms.=E2=80=9D=20

Officials at India=E2=80=99s Central Bureau of Investigation told =
Shrivastava that they had suspected for decades that Ghiya was one of =
India=E2=80=99s biggest antique thieves, but his operation was so =
sophisticated that they had never been able to gather sufficient =
evidence against him. =E2=80=9CHe=E2=80=99s become stronger and bigger =
than the law,=E2=80=9D Shrivastava marvelled. It occurred to Shrivastava =
that Ghiya represented both an information vacuum for law enforcement =
and a portal through which India was slowly losing its cultural =
heritage. Operation Black Hole began in June, 2002, with an initial team =
of twelve policemen. =E2=80=9CI told my chaps, =E2=80=98Find out who =
that bugger is,=E2=80=99 =E2=80=9D Shrivastava said.

International antiquities smuggling is effectively a white-collar crime =
in India: it requires capital and education, and the participants use =
the wealth that the business generates to cultivate an image of social =
respectability. Worldwide, the looted-antiquities market could be as =
much as a multibillion-dollar industry, and in recent years several =
cases have revealed the role of smuggling in arts acquisition at the =
highest levels, causing a scandal in the art world. But the shadowy =
practices of the smugglers who supply the international market have =
rarely been detailed. When Ghiya was charged with multiple counts of =
possession of stolen property and trafficking in looted antiquities, and =
was thrown into Jaipur Central Jail=E2=80=94where he remains today, held =
without bail, and forbidden by the court to speak to anyone but his =
lawyers and his family=E2=80=94the story made national headlines. (Ghiya =
has pleaded not guilty and has instructed his lawyers not to speak with =
the press.) =E2=80=9CPeople were shocked,=E2=80=9D Chandramani Singh, a =
Jaipur archeologist who knew Ghiya=E2=80=99s father, told me. =
=E2=80=9CBut I think many of them knew he was doing such =
things.=E2=80=9D=20

Stone temples devoted to the major Hindu deities have been the focus of =
theistic cults on the Indian subcontinent since the fifth century, and =
these shrines, often full of carved images of major and minor gods, can =
still be found throughout the country, along with a profusion of =
Buddhist and Islamic antiquities. =E2=80=9CThere are too many things, =
too many sites,=E2=80=9D Singh said. =E2=80=9CIt is easier for a =
Westerner, because they don=E2=80=99t have such an amount of =
history.=E2=80=9D In a populous developing country like India, state and =
national authorities have few resources, Singh explained, and demand for =
clean drinking water, irrigation, roads, and other priorities means that =
archeological preservation remains underfunded. The Archaeological =
Survey of India has been unable to create a comprehensive national =
register of every temple and archeological site, much less protect them =
all from incursion.=20

In February, 1998, a gang of thieves visited a secluded site called =
Baroli, near the confluence of the Chambal and Bamini Rivers, in eastern =
Rajasthan. Set back from the road and surrounded by trees, the ornate =
stone shrines at Baroli were erected between the eighth and the twelfth =
centuries. There are nine temples in all, one of them rising =
majestically out of a small pond, along with numerous stone pillars and =
lingas, often regarded as the traditional phallic symbol of =
Shiva=E2=80=99s generative power. Hindu villagers still worship in the =
crumbling temples, but Baroli attracts few tourists, and there is little =
to deter enterprising scavengers.=20

For religious Hindus, images of the gods are not merely =
representational; they can be inhabited by the deity they depict. The =
faithful anoint the statues with oils, camphor, and sandalwood, garland =
them with flowers, and make offerings of food, incense, and music. (The =
word =E2=80=9Cidol,=E2=80=9D though largely abandoned by Western =
academics because of its perceived pejorative connotation, remains in =
use in India to describe these objects.) When, in 1986, the Indian =
government sued for the return of a twelfth-century bronze Shiva that =
had been looted from a village in Pathur, it did so on behalf of the =
offended god himself: Shiva was named as a plaintiff in the case. =
=E2=80=9CIn the south, people still don=E2=80=99t tell lies in =
Shiva=E2=80=99s temple,=E2=80=9D Ashok Shekhar, a former state arts and =
culture official in Rajasthan, told me. =E2=80=9CThese are very =
hotheaded deities.=E2=80=9D

Looting a temple, therefore, is a sacrilegious act=E2=80=94the province =
of an especially unscrupulous criminal element. In Baroli, the thieves =
approached one of the best-preserved of the temples, a =
fifty-eight-foot-tall beehive-shaped building devoted to Shiva and lined =
with dramatic sculptures: three-headed Brahmas, bejewelled Lakshmis, a =
dozen incarnations of Vishnu, and a parade of other deities and =
attendants. Along the sanctum=E2=80=99s western wall, a jaunty stone =
Shiva danced atop a lotus flower. Dating to the tenth century, the =
statue was adorned with a tasselled belt and anklets, and clutched a =
serpent in one of his many hands. Shiva is a supreme god, and in Hindu =
theology he assumes several different forms; the sensuous contortions of =
dancing Shivas make them popular among Western collectors. Using a jack, =
the thieves dislodged the statue from the niche it had occupied for a =
thousand years.=20

According to Shrivastava, the thieves sold the piece to Ghiya, who =
smuggled it out of India. When the local villagers discovered the theft, =
they were outraged. Ghiya quickly commissioned a replica of the Shiva =
and ordered his men to deposit it by the side of the road near the local =
police station. The local authorities triumphantly announced its =
recovery. Fearing that the Shiva might be stolen again, they decided not =
to return it to the temple, and stored it in an Archaeological Survey =
facility in the nearby city of Chittorgarh.=20

Under interrogation, Ghiya admitted to the police that he had sent the =
original to England, where it ended up in the private collection of John =
Kasmin, a well-known figure in the London art world. After the magazine =
India Today ran a story following Ghiya=E2=80=99s arrest which suggested =
that Kasmin now had the Shiva, Kasmin faxed Shrivastava, insisting that =
he had =E2=80=9Clegally and innocently=E2=80=9D bought the statue in =
London, but also volunteering to return it to India without =
compensation. (Kasmin told me recently that he had bought the sculpture =
not from Ghiya but from a dealer in London.) After the local police at =
Baroli learned from Shrivastava that Kasmin was allegedly in possession =
of the real Shiva, a panel of archeologists was summoned to inspect the =
Shiva being held in Chittorgarh. The panel declared it a fake.=20

The Western market for Indian sculpture was slow to develop. During the =
colonial era, these objects were often considered mere curiosities. =
British visitors occasionally helped themselves: Lord Hastings tore out =
the marble bath in Shah Jahan=E2=80=99s palace at Agra to send to George =
IV as a gift; George Curzon, the viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905, =
recalled how nineteenth-century picnickers brought chisels to the Taj =
Mahal and =E2=80=9Cwhiled away the afternoon by chipping out fragments =
of agate . . . from the cenotaphs of the Emperor and his lamented =
Queen.=E2=80=9D But, by the mid-twentieth century, influential American =
collectors like John D. Rockefeller III and the canned-food magnate =
Norton Simon were beginning to develop collections, and museums that had =
already established strong Chinese and Japanese holdings were looking to =
South Asia as well. Just as India outlawed the export of antiques, =
demand for them=E2=80=94and the prices they could fetch=E2=80=94soared. =
Some American museums, like the Cleveland Museum, slowed their rate of =
acquisition of Indian objects after 1972, but others, according to a =
Cambridge University study, assembled the bulk of their collections at a =
time when it was illegal for such objects to leave India.=20

=E2=80=9CEverybody knew all of these lovely Indian sculptures =
don=E2=80=99t come from Malibu Beach or Indiana,=E2=80=9D Thomas Hoving, =
who was the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 to =
1977, told me. =E2=80=9CBut people were willing to look the other =
way.=E2=80=9D In 1973, Norton Simon bought a beautiful tenth-century =
bronze Nataraja, or dancing Shiva, from a dealer in New York for a =
million dollars. But the Indian government intervened, saying that the =
statue had been stolen from a village in Tamil Nadu and smuggled abroad. =
=E2=80=9CHell, yes, it was smuggled,=E2=80=9D Simon told the Times. =
=E2=80=9CI spent between $15 and $16 million in the last two years on =
Asian art, and most of it was smuggled.=E2=80=9D It was during this =
period that Vaman Narayan Ghiya entered the business.=20

Ghiya was born into a lower-caste family in 1948, the year after =
independence and partition. His father, Badri Narayan, owned a small =
photography shop near Jaipur=E2=80=99s City Palace, where he sold Kodak =
film and did studio portraits; he also framed pictures and occasionally =
sold paintings. After graduating from Maharaja College, Ghiya went into =
business selling antique Rajasthani paintings. He made frequent sales =
trips to Bombay, and opened his own shop in Jaipur. He married, and =
started a family.=20

Ariane Dandois, a Frenchwoman who first visited Ghiya=E2=80=99s shop in =
the late seventies, was one of his earliest Western clients. Dandois is =
tall, blond, and glamorous, the mistress of Elie de Rothschild. She =
owned an Asian-art gallery on the Rue des Saints-P=C3=A8res, in Paris. =
She had first travelled to India as a student at the Sorbonne, and she =
began spending several months a year in the country, scouting for =
material. Dandois recalls visiting Ghiya in a small house in which his =
entire family slept together in one room, on the floor. Ghiya was eager =
to cultivate Western clients, and he was extremely polite and =
deferential=E2=80=94=E2=80=9Clike a serviteur,=E2=80=9D Dandois said. =
His wife dutifully refilled Dandois=E2=80=99s teacup every time she =
emptied it.=20

Many maharajas had begun selling off their extensive art collections, =
and Dandois negotiated with the Maharaja of Bikaner to purchase his =
entire collection of marble furniture for twenty-five thousand dollars. =
Ghiya summoned a convoy of trucks to transport all sixty-four pieces of =
furniture back to Jaipur, and gathered nearly a hundred locals in a =
courtyard, armed with little bowls of water, to scrub the furniture. The =
job took a full year.=20

There were perhaps twenty Western dealers who visited Jaipur in those =
days=E2=80=94French, Italian, British, and American. They stayed at the =
Rambagh Palace Hotel, the sprawling former home of Jaipur=E2=80=99s =
royal family, and they came to rely on a new generation of Indian =
dealers like Ghiya, who could spare Westerners the risk and the =
discomfort of venturing out of the major cities on their own. Chief =
among these new dealers, according to people who knew him, was a man =
named Baliram Sharma. Based in Delhi, Sharma was arrested on several =
occasions, but he was never jailed for long. He became so influential, =
one Indian antique dealer told me, that dealers throughout the country =
=E2=80=9Cworked under the blessing of Sharma.=E2=80=9D=20

=E2=80=9CNowadays, somebody farts here in New York and they know about =
it thirty seconds later=E2=80=9D in Rajasthan, one dealer who had bought =
from Sharma and Ghiya told me. But, in the nineteen-seventies, =
=E2=80=9Cno one knew what we were asking for the pieces they sold =
us.=E2=80=9D Sharma and a few others =E2=80=9Cwere supplying all of the =
Western trade,=E2=80=9D the dealer continued, and Sharma in particular =
was becoming extraordinarily wealthy. The dealer recalled running into =
Sharma at the airport in Zurich, and joking, =E2=80=9CWhat are you =
doing? Visiting your money?=E2=80=9D (When I contacted Sharma, who is =
now retired, he replied, =E2=80=9CI think some unfriendly man gave you =
my name and e-mail address. I was never in the antique =
business.=E2=80=9D)=20

It was an indication of Ghiya=E2=80=99s ambition that when he entered =
the business, in the seventies, he did so not with the blessing of =
Sharma but in direct competition with him. People who knew Ghiya say =
that although he lacked Sharma=E2=80=99s well-trained eye, he made up =
for it by amassing a vast inventory. According to the police, he began =
targeting the same archeologically rich areas as Sharma, and poaching =
Sharma=E2=80=99s suppliers by paying slightly more than he did.=20

=E2=80=9CHe was so ambitious I can=E2=80=99t tell you,=E2=80=9D Jack =
Franses, a former Sotheby=E2=80=99s employee who met Ghiya in Jaipur in =
the early eighties, said of him. Ghiya took him to a dusty warehouse =
filled with antique dhurries (a kind of woven rug) and looked on as he =
went through them. =E2=80=9CI like the way you work,=E2=80=9D Ghiya said =
admiringly. He said that he could get anything for anyone. =E2=80=9CIf =
you want the Taj Mahal, I=E2=80=99ll send it to you,=E2=80=9D he told =
Franses. =E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99ll take it down piece by piece.=E2=80=9D=20

Ghiya cultivated dozens of middlemen throughout India. Part of the =
durability of Ghiya=E2=80=99s network, authorities say, was that any =
given link on the chain knew only the links on either side. What =
connected these discrete links, from the local thief to the London =
auction house, was photographs. When a statue was stolen from a temple =
or bought for some small amount from a local farmer, it was brought to a =
middleman, who photographed it. The photograph would then make its way, =
often through further intermediaries, to Ghiya. These photographs were =
sent to prospective buyers abroad, or taken by Ghiya on sales trips to =
London and New York. =E2=80=9CHe=E2=80=99d come with a big stack of =
Polaroids and you=E2=80=99d go through it,=E2=80=9D one Western buyer =
told me. =E2=80=9CThere was nothing selective about it. It was a ton of =
junk with some wonderful stuff mixed in.=E2=80=9D

One evening in Jaipur, I met Abhay Singh, who was Ghiya=E2=80=99s driver =
from 1984 to 2000 and is now a major witness in the government=E2=80=99s =
case against him. Singh is lanky, with pitted cheeks and a schoolboy =
part in his hair, and he told me about driving Ghiya into the =
countryside to rendezvous with middlemen and inspect their wares. Ghiya =
was extremely cautious, even paranoid, Singh said. Even when he =
wasn=E2=80=99t engaged in a deal, he kept a close watch on the rearview =
mirror, fearing that their car was being followed. Having selected the =
pieces he wanted to buy, Ghiya would instruct the middlemen to pack the =
purchases in their cars and return with him to Jaipur. On the drive =
back, =E2=80=9Che would carry two flags with him, one red and one =
green,=E2=80=9D Singh explained. =E2=80=9CIf there was any danger, he =
would show the red flag to them, and they would stop and change their =
route.=E2=80=9D In Jaipur, Ghiya stashed the objects at one of his =
godowns, or buried them at his farm, a secluded stretch of grassland =
dotted with gold and violet wildflowers, with several low-slung concrete =
buildings and a swimming pool. Ghiya often dug the holes for the =
sculptures himself. =E2=80=9CHe would tell the servants he was planting =
trees,=E2=80=9D Singh said.=20

=E2=80=9CHe was too scared and too suspicious,=E2=80=9D one Jaipur =
acquaintance told me. =E2=80=9CHe doesn=E2=80=99t get along with anybody =
in his life. Not even his wife.=E2=80=9D When Ghiya wasn=E2=80=99t =
travelling, he came home late at night; he invested his money in real =
estate; he had no hobbies; and everyone I spoke with agreed that his =
interest in the business was driven simply by the enormous sums of money =
to be made.=20

At times, his wariness bordered on superstition. =E2=80=9COne day, I was =
frozen cold in Ghiya=E2=80=99s house in Jaipur,=E2=80=9D Ariane Dandois =
recalled. =E2=80=9CSo I said, =E2=80=98Come on, Vaman, take your car, =
you drive me to Delhi. I=E2=80=99m going to sleep in a decent hotel =
room.=E2=80=99 =E2=80=9D Ghiya was nervous about bandits on the =
Jaipur-Delhi road, but he agreed to drive her. As the two walked out to =
the car, a bird appeared and swooped in a peculiar pattern around the =
house. =E2=80=9CThis is bad luck,=E2=80=9D Ghiya announced, and said =
that he could not possibly undertake the journey. Dandois tried to =
reason with him, but he refused.=20

Ghiya=E2=80=99s caution deepened after he narrowly avoided smuggling =
charges, in 1989. Customs officers in Mumbai had discovered twenty-one =
antique objects during a random check of one of his handicrafts =
shipments. According to the police, and other antique dealers in Jaipur, =
when the authorities re=C3=ABxamined the container they concluded that =
the incriminating items were replicas, not actual antiques. That may =
have been true, or it may be that Ghiya had bribed the right official. =
But it is also possible that someone switched the real antiques for =
fakes. One common smuggler=E2=80=99s tactic in India is to prepare a =
copy of a looted antique and present it to the Archaeological Survey; =
once the survey grants a certificate of =E2=80=9Cnon-antiquity,=E2=80=9D =
the certificate accompanies the genuine antique out of the country.=20

At around this time, Baliram Sharma retired and, Shrivastava told me, =
Ghiya =E2=80=9Cstarted building an empire.=E2=80=9D But, while most =
dealers and smugglers of Indian antiques insist on inspecting an object =
before paying for it, Ghiya stopped travelling to the countryside, =
making his initial selections by examining photographs. The objects were =
then routed to godowns in Mathura and Delhi, eliminating the =
transshipment point in Jaipur. Periodically, Ghiya inspected items =
before sending them abroad, but he increasingly depended on middlemen =
and photographs.=20

=E2=80=9CHe would never leave the photos around,=E2=80=9D Abhay Singh =
told me. =E2=80=9CThe photos would come and he . . . would immediately =
mail those photographs to his buyers.=E2=80=9D

In 1991, the British journalist Peter Watson was covering the art market =
for London=E2=80=99s Observer when he came into contact with a former =
Sotheby=E2=80=99s employee named James Hodges. Hodges had worked at the =
auction house for more than a decade, until 1989. Later, it was =
discovered that he had removed an ancient bronze helmet and a =
terra-cotta bowl from the premises. He was charged with theft, forgery, =
and false accounting, and was facing trial. Hodges told Watson that =
corruption and crime were pervasive at Sotheby=E2=80=99s. In the course =
of several years, he had assembled a dossier of papers, filling three =
suitcases, that he said documented a business environment in which =
smuggling and tax evasion were routine.=20

While Hodges was at Sotheby=E2=80=99s, he said, a number of the auction =
house=E2=80=99s biggest suppliers had prompted him to open fake bank =
accounts. These accounts operated as slush funds for a handful of =
dealers who consigned large amounts of unprovenanced antiquities. One of =
these dealers was Giacomo Medici, an Italian smuggler whose Geneva =
warehouse was raided by the authorities in 1997 and was found to contain =
several thousand archeological works. Medici, it turned out, was a =
prolific black marketer with extensive contacts in auction houses and =
museums. His subsequent trial in Italy implicated Marion True, the =
antiquities curator of the Getty, who is currently on trial in Rome. =
(Medici was convicted and is appealing the decision; True has pleaded =
not guilty.) Another beneficiary of the accounts, Hodges told Watson, =
was =E2=80=9Ca Mr. Ghiya of Jaipur.=E2=80=9D

Hodges explained that Ghiya was =E2=80=9Ca kind of Indian =
Medici,=E2=80=9D whose relationship with Sotheby=E2=80=99s was so close =
that he would stop at Hodges=E2=80=99s house in Shepherds Bush on his =
way into London from the airport to drop off antiques he had carried on =
the plane. After establishing contact with the auction house, in the =
early nineteen-eighties, Ghiya flooded the antiquities department with =
items. Hodges showed Watson a 1986 department memo that said, =
=E2=80=9CWe now have a clear understanding of what should be sent [by =
Ghiya] and have ruled out the lower end of the market.=E2=80=9D Brendan =
Lynch, one of Sotheby=E2=80=99s Indian-antiquities experts, had met with =
Ghiya, and the memo proposed that Lynch begin visiting Ghiya in Jaipur =
twice a year to acquire objects. =E2=80=9CAny visit by a =
Sotheby=E2=80=99s expert will be monitored in India and justification =
for such a visit should be readily available,=E2=80=9D the memo said. =
=E2=80=9CIt is unconvincing to say every expert is there on holiday and =
even the pretext of =E2=80=98writing a book=E2=80=99 is wearing pretty =
thin!=E2=80=9D In another memo, Felicity Nicholson, who was then the =
director of antiquities at Sotheby=E2=80=99s, professed to find =
=E2=80=9Cthe shady side of the antiquities market not =
uncongenial.=E2=80=9D=20

Some of these memos were produced by Hodges=E2=80=99s defense team when =
his trial commenced at London=E2=80=99s Knightsbridge Crown Court, in =
November, 1991. Hodges, who was ultimately convicted of theft and false =
accounting, testified that the fraudulent bank accounts were considered =
an =E2=80=9Cextra service=E2=80=9D for clients like Ghiya, and that he =
kept cash from the accounts in a special cupboard in Sotheby=E2=80=99s =
offices, because =E2=80=9Cone couldn=E2=80=99t keep on popping down to =
the bank.=E2=80=9D Brendan Lynch, who had become Ghiya=E2=80=99s closest =
contact at Sotheby=E2=80=99s, fared especially poorly on the stand. When =
he was asked about his trips to India, he insisted that his purpose was =
not to acquire objects but merely to conduct =E2=80=9Cresearch and . . . =
valuations.=E2=80=9D But the defense produced an expense report from a =
1988 trip, in which Lynch had written, under =E2=80=9CPurpose of =
Visit,=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CTo obtain property for the June 13 Indian =
sale.=E2=80=9D When Lynch was asked whether he had ever hidden in the =
closet at Vaman Ghiya=E2=80=99s Jaipur home, he replied that he had not, =
but he conceded that on one occasion, when the police visited Ghiya, he =
did hide in the other room.=20

The trial was followed closely in the British press, but, even after =
Lynch=E2=80=99s testimony, the auction house did not terminate its =
relationship with Ghiya. Watson=E2=80=99s book, =
=E2=80=9CSotheby=E2=80=99s: The Inside Story,=E2=80=9D was published in =
1997, and had a more pronounced effect. Brendan Lynch left the company, =
and Sotheby=E2=80=99s announced that it was closing its London =
antiquities department. =E2=80=9CIt has always been Sotheby=E2=80=99s =
policy to be sensitive to issues of patrimony and heritage,=E2=80=9D a =
spokesman said at the time. He added that Sotheby=E2=80=99s would =
continue to auction antiquities, but solely through New York.=20

When Shrivastava began his investigation, he knew nothing of =
Watson=E2=80=99s book. In the first phase of Operation Black Hole, he =
dispatched officers around the country to pose as buyers. =E2=80=9CThe =
operation would be successful if I could catch hold of one branch at a =
time,=E2=80=9D Shrivastava told me. =E2=80=9CThe actual thief, then the =
transporter, then the first middleman, then the second, main middleman, =
then the packer who does the packaging in Delhi, then the exporter, then =
Ghiya.=E2=80=9D As it happened, Ghiya had a tendency to turn on business =
partners and subordinates, and to terminate relationships on the =
slightest suspicion. (=E2=80=9CHe had no friends,=E2=80=9D I was told on =
more than one occasion in Jaipur.) The caution and distrust that had =
enabled Vaman Ghiya to remain at large for so long had also produced a =
considerable number of disgruntled ex-employees. Before long, =
Shrivastava had located several who were willing to talk.

The testimony of these local thieves and middlemen was compelling, but =
inadequate as evidence. In some cases, the disappearance of idols had =
been registered with local police departments, but Shrivastava needed =
photographs of the pieces in the village temples from which they had =
been taken. Since the records of the Archaeological Survey and various =
state archeological authorities are woefully incomplete, Shrivastava =
began scouring libraries and archives in search of old photographs and =
archeological records. (Around this time, he also received a copy of =
Watson=E2=80=99s book.) He sought out Ph.D. dissertations from the =
nineteen-sixties, many of which contained photographs of sculptures in =
their original temple settings. He concedes that his work became an =
obsession. =E2=80=9CIn my department, people said, =E2=80=98You have =
gone mad! You are the man of archeology and art and culture.=E2=80=99 =
And I was reading all the time and doing this bloody job,=E2=80=9D he =
said, chuckling. =E2=80=9CThis was my favorite hobby.=E2=80=9D

Occasionally, Shrivastava=E2=80=99s research produced vivid =
illustrations of what was lost when a religious relic was smuggled out =
of India. He stumbled across a series of beautiful Matrika, or mother =
goddess, statues from outside Tanesar, a village near Udaipur. =
Originally, there were a dozen of the statues, each about two feet tall, =
carved from dark-green schist, and dating to the fifth century. They =
depicted graceful, broad-hipped women, each in a different stage of =
motherhood: one pregnant, one breast-feeding an infant, one cradling a =
toddler, one walking a child. An Indian archeological journal had =
published photographs of the Tanesar Matrikas in 1961. Sometime =
thereafter they were stolen and smuggled out of the country. In the late =
nineties, one of the statues appeared in a Sotheby=E2=80=99s catalogue, =
and in February, 2003, Shrivastava assembled some photographs of the =
sculptures and travelled to Tanesar.=20

When the police contingent arrived at the village, a crowd formed. =
Shrivastava=E2=80=99s men asked whether anyone remembered a series of =
statues of women that had once stood nearby. =E2=80=9CWe got hold of a =
person who was now eighty years old,=E2=80=9D Shrivastava told me. =
=E2=80=9CLong white hair. Old guy.=E2=80=9D Shrivastava asked the man if =
he remembered the Matrikas, and after a moment the man said, =
=E2=80=9COh, yes, I recall, seven or eight idols were there of a lady, a =
lady feeding her child.=E2=80=9D Shrivastava took out the pictures of =
the Matrikas. The old man stared at them for a moment. Then he began to =
weep.

I asked what had become of the Matrikas, and Shrivastava told me that =
they had ended up in various museums in England and the United States. =
Today, one is at the British Museum, one is at the Cleveland Museum, and =
one is at the Met.=20

Vaman Ghiya=E2=80=99s interrogation lasted ninety days. Initially, he =
was forced to share a cell with one of his middlemen, which he =
considered demeaning. He complained about the uncomfortable quarters and =
insisted on telephoning his doctor every day to discuss a number of =
ailments. Shrivastava was eager to carry out the interrogation, but =
Ghiya would break his silence only to say, =E2=80=9CWhy don=E2=80=99t =
you tell me the name of your foreign bank account? I will send the =
money.=E2=80=9D=20

Shrivastava subjected Ghiya to long nights of questioning that began at =
6 P.M. and continued until the morning. He describes his relationship =
with Ghiya during these sessions as somewhat jocular. =
=E2=80=9CObviously, he was doing illegal things. But it was =
art,=E2=80=9D he told me. =E2=80=9CIt was not a bank robbery, he was not =
Al Qaeda. He is a good conversationalist. But, at the same time, =
he=E2=80=99s very hard, very hard.=E2=80=9D After several days, =
Shrivastava tried taunting Ghiya, saying that it was his impression that =
Baliram Sharma was Ghiya=E2=80=99s superior in the antiquities trade. =
=E2=80=9CHe has been arrested by the police several times,=E2=80=9D =
Ghiya replied. =E2=80=9CThis is the first time I have.=E2=80=9D And when =
Shrivastava asked why the auction world continued doing business with =
Ghiya after Watson=E2=80=99s book and the dismissal of Brendan Lynch, =
Ghiya snapped back that he was indispensable. =E2=80=9CThey can survive =
without Brendan Lynch,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CBut not without =
me.=E2=80=9D=20

Two weeks into the questioning, Ghiya began to open up. His confession, =
from which Shrivastava read aloud to me, was recorded by hand in Hindi =
in a series of lined blue notebooks, and describes a staggeringly =
sophisticated operation. Because of the free-trade zone and lax =
inspections in Switzerland, Ghiya shipped items through Geneva, where he =
maintained three shell corporations. These companies would buy and sell =
the objects among themselves, to launder the provenance, before =
forwarding them to auction houses and collectors elsewhere. The auction =
houses could claim to be accepting antiquities not from India but from a =
Swiss company that had bought them from another Swiss =
company=E2=80=94even if the companies shared the same business address =
and the antiques had been on Swiss soil for less than a week.

James Hodges had shown Peter Watson documents with the letterhead of two =
Swiss companies used by Ghiya, Cape Lion Logging and Megavena. Between =
1984 and 1986, these two companies alone had consigned some ninety-three =
lots to Sotheby=E2=80=99s sales. Sotheby=E2=80=99s often paid his =
commission through a dummy bank account, Ghiya explained. To get cash =
back into India, Ghiya used hawala, a paperless money-remittance system =
that is widely used in India and by diasporic South Asian communities =
throughout the world, and is virtually untraceable.=20

After Sotheby=E2=80=99s closed its London antiquities desk, in 1997, it =
simply shifted the business to New York, Ghiya told the police. A regal =
Jain Tirthankara that the police say Ghiya=E2=80=99s men stole from =
Krishna Vilas, an Archaeological Survey-protected site in Rajasthan, =
turned up as Lot 135 in Sotheby=E2=80=99s September, 2000, catalogue, =
with an estimated price of twenty-five thousand to thirty-five thousand =
dollars. (A Sotheby=E2=80=99s spokeswoman told me that the auction house =
has =E2=80=9Cnot knowingly sold any items=E2=80=9D consigned by Ghiya =
since 1997, and has =E2=80=9Cthe most rigorous duediligence program in =
the art market.=E2=80=9D She also said that Lot 135 was consigned by a =
New York dealer who to her knowledge has no connection to Ghiya.) =
Christie=E2=80=99s also continued to auction material that he stole, =
Ghiya said. The police had recovered a photograph in Ghiya=E2=80=99s =
secret cupboard depicting a scuffed sandstone Shiva, crowned with an =
elaborate headdress, his hips thrust to the right and his four arms =
radiating around him. It perfectly matched the elegantly lit Shiva that =
Christie=E2=80=99s auctioned in New York on September 20, =
2000=E2=80=94down to the jagged right edge of the panel, where it had =
been pried from its original location. Ghiya said that he had met with =
representatives from Christie=E2=80=99s as late as January, 2003. A =
Christie=E2=80=99s spokeswoman told me that =E2=80=9CChristie=E2=80=99s =
does not comment on the identities of their clients.=E2=80=9D She added =
that the lot in question was consigned not by Ghiya but =E2=80=9Cby a =
reputable dealer,=E2=80=9D whose name she would not divulge, and =
maintained that Christie=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Chad no reason to believe =
that Mr. Ghiya had any connection=E2=80=9D to the Shiva.

Ghiya eventually supplied Shrivastava with the names of dozens of his =
buyers in Britain, Switzerland, and the United States. He had an uncanny =
memory for the street addresses and collecting preferences of various =
prominent individuals with whom he had done business, and for the fate =
of many objects that had passed through his hands. Collectors often =
suggest that they are the custodians and preservers of antiquities that =
might otherwise suffer from neglect or mistreatment, but Ghiya described =
the callous mechanics that are sometimes required to smuggle a statue =
from one country to another. He recalled a squat stone Vahara=E2=80=94a =
depiction of Vishnu in his incarnation as a boar=E2=80=94that stood in =
the village of Attru, in southeast Rajasthan. The boar weighed more than =
a thousand pounds and its legs and torso were covered in a magnificent =
phalanx of tiny, intricately carved figurines. Ghiya=E2=80=99s thieves =
stole the statue in the late nineteen-eighties, lacing a chain through =
the boar=E2=80=99s open mouth and yanking it from its stone pedestal, =
shearing off its lower jaw and breaking its legs in the process. The =
piece was eventually sold to a private collector in Zurich.

Ghiya was charged with =E2=80=9Chabitually=E2=80=9D receiving stolen =
property and with the illegal possession and export of antiquities. =
Indian courts operate at a sluggish pace, and the trial, which has been =
under way for more than a year, is expected to continue for at least =
another year. Journalists are barred from the courtroom, but Abhay Singh =
said that during the several days that he testified against his former =
employer Ghiya was alert and engaged, following every word. Despite his =
detailed confession, Ghiya pleaded not guilty. Torture and coercive =
interrogation are such a common feature of the Indian criminal-justice =
system that confessions given to police officers are not admissible in =
court. When I asked Shrivastava and another officer who was involved in =
the interrogations whether Ghiya had been tortured, they both dismissed =
any suggestion of cruel treatment as the timeworn refrain of criminal =
defendants everywhere. But Ghiya=E2=80=99s supporters, and others who =
have followed the case, maintain that it would be more unusual if the =
police had not physically coerced Ghiya=E2=80=99s confession than if =
they had.=20

=E2=80=9CWhat Vaman did was he created a sort of aura,=E2=80=9D a =
Rajasthan textiles dealer told me. Ghiya awakened Indians to the value =
of their cultural heritage, the dealer explained, by demonstrating the =
prices that outsiders were willing to pay for it. =E2=80=9CHe made the =
market something fantastic.=E2=80=9D=20

We were drinking milky tea in the cramped back room of a small shop in =
Jaipur=E2=80=99s old quarter, along with four other men. The men were =
jumpy. They peered suspiciously at several drivers lounging on their =
auto-rickshaws under a tree in front of the shop, and asked if I had =
been followed; they repeatedly insisted that I not use any of their =
names. Sandipan Sharma, an Indian journalist, had warned me that in the =
Jaipur art world antique dealing is =E2=80=9Clike doping in =
athletics=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94everyone dabbles in it, and everyone denies =
doing so. Sure enough, none of the men would say that they dealt =
antiques. One told me that his main business was jewelry; another =
insisted that he was a goldsmith. =E2=80=9CAfter this case, everybody =
says, =E2=80=98I sell only handicrafts,=E2=80=99 =E2=80=9D one man =
joked. The others laughed nervously.=20

The antiquities law has many critics. =E2=80=9CThe law as it stands =
doesn=E2=80=99t benefit anybody,=E2=80=9D said the scholar and curator =
Pratapaditya Pal, who came to the United States in the =
mid-nineteen-sixties and built several renowned collections, including =
Norton Simon=E2=80=99s. The law is self-defeating, Pal believes, because =
it makes no distinction between a masterpiece and any generic antique. =
The result is a black market that the government lacks the resources to =
control. Pal prefers the model adopted by Japan, which identifies art =
works of national significance and keeps them in the country, while =
allowing everything else to be sold on the open market. The difference =
between what Walter Benjamin called =E2=80=9Ccult value=E2=80=9D and =
=E2=80=9Cexhibition value=E2=80=9D makes the issue particularly vexed in =
India. Indians who are involved in the art world frequently express =
frustration that their countrymen have little interest in the purely =
artistic value of religious art. =E2=80=9CWe may be very advanced in the =
Internet and outsourcing and all that,=E2=80=9D Pal said. =E2=80=9CBut I =
see absolutely no response to antiquities of any kind among any of the =
people I meet [in India], and I meet only the educated, upper =
crust.=E2=80=9D=20

It is not clear what will become of the thousands of art works that the =
police say Ghiya smuggled out of the country between the =
nineteen-seventies and his capture. A dispute between the Archaeological =
Survey and the state government in Rajasthan over who would underwrite =
the cost of returning the art seems to have stalled the prospect of =
recovery. Even if works are returned, it is not clear where precisely =
they would go. Pal pointed out that, even after the Indian government =
spent enormous sums to secure the return of Norton Simon=E2=80=99s =
bronze Nataraja in the seventies, the sculpture=E2=80=94which is =
considered one of the masterpieces of Indian art=E2=80=94was neither =
restored to the temple from which it had been stolen nor displayed in a =
museum.

The police ultimately unearthed some nine hundred antiques in =
Ghiya=E2=80=99s various godowns around India, and trucked them back to =
Jaipur. Today, they inhabit a storage space at Jaipur=E2=80=99s =
Vidhyadhar Nagar police station. Officials have announced a plan to =
assemble all the recovered treasures into a permanent exhibit=E2=80=94a =
sort of Ghiya Collection of South Asian Art=E2=80=94which would be =
displayed at Hawa Mahal, Jaipur=E2=80=99s beautiful, tapering Palace of =
Winds, in the heart of the Pink City. I visited Hawa Mahal, the =
fa=C3=A7ade of which is a lacy scrim of pink sandstone, perforated with =
hundreds of tiny windows through which nineteenth-century noblewomen =
could watch street festivals without being seen. There I met Zafar Ullah =
Khan, who has been assigned to curate the exhibit. Each sculpture had =
been photographed before being placed in storage, and, as we flipped =
through huge stacks of these black-and-white pictures, Khan told me that =
one day all of the sculptures would be on display. But, for the time =
being, they must stay in storage. The Palace of Winds needs a burglar =
alarm and closed-circuit security cameras. They couldn=E2=80=99t =
possibly display so precious a trove of antiquities in so unguarded a =
space.=20

One enduring mystery is why a man of Ghiya=E2=80=99s means has been =
unable to bribe his way out of prison. Ariane Dandois heard rumors in =
Jaipur that Ghiya had powerful enemies. =E2=80=9CHe had become very =
rich, very arrogant, and had problems with highly important =
people,=E2=80=9D she said. =E2=80=9CYou know, it=E2=80=99s a mafia. =
Clearly, some people wanted him out of the market.=E2=80=9D

But the authorities may simply be sending a message. =E2=80=9CWhen Ghiya =
was put behind bars, there was a lot of terror,=E2=80=9D Shrivastava =
told me late one night, as we sat on the deserted terrace of a sumptuous =
palace that had been reinvented as a posh hotel. The walls were hung =
with fading photographs of early-twentieth-century shooting parties: =
stern-faced maharajas and visiting British aristocrats standing =
triumphant over a mountain of slain ducks; a Rolls-Royce with a dead =
tiger splayed along its running board, and the caption =E2=80=9CSilver =
Shadow and Tiger.=E2=80=9D=20

Ghiya=E2=80=99s operation was the largest antiquities smuggling racket =
in India=E2=80=99s history to be systematically dismantled and =
prosecuted, and, depending on the outcome of the trial, Ghiya could =
spend the rest of his life in jail. Shrivastava said that for three =
years after Ghiya=E2=80=99s arrest other smugglers left the business and =
the outflow of antiquities had been stemmed. =E2=80=9CBut now I have =
come to know that again they have started,=E2=80=9D he told me. Bats =
made lazy figure eights in the air around us, splashing off the surface =
of the swimming pool. On a low rooftop in the distance, hotel employees =
spread out blankets and prepared to sleep beneath the stars. =
=E2=80=9CThis is a very specialized kind of crime. You have to have a =
lot of taste. You have to read a lot,=E2=80=9D Shrivastava said. =
=E2=80=9CThese new guys, they have taken all the lessons from Ghiya. =
They are taking more precautions.=E2=80=9D =E2=99=A6


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