Two marble funerary vessels of the 4th century BC from Attica were returned to Athens after multi-year efforts by the Greek state and their confiscation by Swiss authorities, the Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday.
The marble vases were in the shape of a lekythos and a loutrophos, vessels used to store oil and to carry water for the bridal bath, respectively, in antiquity. Their marble copies show up in ancient cemeteries of Attica in the late 5th century and throughout the 4th century BC.
Returning the artifacts was a long process that began in 2017 when the Greek office of Interpol notified authorities of an auction scheduled in London by a Swiss art dealer and provided their photographs. The two pieces had been originally confiscated by Italian and Swiss authorities in Basel in 2002 from the storage space of convicted Italian art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, then sold by Swiss authorities to collect fees owed, and ended up in London through their most recent owner, Swiss art dealer J-D.C.
Commenting on the process, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said Greece had filed six requests for help from Swiss authorities calling for the return of the antiquities and the summons of those involved to testify as to how the two pieces came to their possession.
The lekythos is 0.60 m high, and shows in relief the man who died sitting on a folding chair and using a footstool, with a warrior with a beard next to him and a woman behind the dead man, possibly his wife. The two men are named as Kallias of Demostratos and Demostratos of the deme of Lakiades.
The loutrophoros is 0.54 m high, and has plant decoration in relief, with leaves that cover 2/3 of its height. The handles were made separately and inserted.
Both antiquities will be exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos.