Cyprus Gets Back a 3,500-Year-Old Juglet Sold at UK Auction
A 3,476-year-old Cypriot juglet has been returned to Cyprus after officials spotted it listed for sale at a British auction house earlier this year. The artefact, a base-ring juglet handmade in Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age and dating to around 1450 BC, was sold at Halls Fine Art Auctioneers on April 6 before Cyprus's antiquities department intervened.
Department officials routinely monitor international art markets for Cypriot antiquities being traded abroad. After contacting the auction house and the seller, both agreed to hand the piece back without a legal fight. It was transferred to the Cypriot High Commission in London on June 23 and is now back in Cypriot hands.
A piece dating to 1450 BC predates the fall of Mycenaean Greece by roughly two centuries.
The department thanked the auction house, the seller, and the High Commission for cooperating with the return process. The smooth resolution stands out given how contentious repatriation disputes can become when auction houses or collectors refuse to engage.
This is the latest in a string of recent recoveries. Last month, dozens of artefacts from Greece were returned to Cyprus, and separate repatriations from Canada and the United States have also come through in recent months. The pattern suggests the antiquities department's monitoring effort is producing consistent results across multiple countries.
Base-ring juglets from the Late Bronze Age are among the most recognizable pottery forms from ancient Cyprus, produced during a period when the island was a major hub of eastern Mediterranean trade. A piece dating to 1450 BC predates the fall of Mycenaean Greece by roughly two centuries.
