Looted, Recovered, Returned: Antiquities from Afghanistan

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1 Looted, Recovered, Returned: Antiquities from Afghanistan A detailed scientific and conservation record of a group of ivory and bone furniture overlays excavated at Begram, stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan, privately acquired on behalf of Kabul, analysed and conserved at the British Museum and returned to the National Museum of Afghanistan in 2012 J. Ambers, C. R. Cartwright, C. Higgitt, D. Hook, E. Passmore, St J. Simpson, G. Verri, C. Ward and B. Wills Foreword by Dr O. Masoudi Archaeopress Archaeology

2 Archaeopress Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED ISBN ISBN (e-pdf) Archaeopress, J Ambers and St J Simpson 2014 Cover image: detail of Female figure with a parrot, Cat. no. 4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Printed in England by Information Press, Oxford This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website

3 Contents Foreword... ii Dr Omara Khan Masoudi Preface by the Sponsor... iii Acknowledgements... v Introduction: from Archaeological Discovery to Museum Display... 1 St J. Simpson The Scientific Analyses: Analysis of Original and Conservation Materials, Pigments and Metal Pins Associated with a Group of Ivory and Bone Plaques from Begram, Afghanistan Emma Passmore, Janet Ambers, Catherine Higgitt, Giovanni Verri, Caroline Cartwright and Duncan Hook The Conservation Treatments: Conservation of the Ivory and Bone Panels from Begram, Afghanistan Clare Ward and Barbara Wills Catalogue, Scientific Analyses and Conservation Treatment Records Bibliography i

4 Foreword Dr Omara Khan Masoudi (Director, The National Museum of Afghanistan) The ivory and bone carvings from Begram are one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the past century in Afghanistan. Over the decades following the outbreak of war in Afghanistan, in 1988 some of the contents of our National Museum were packed and shifted to the centre of Kabul for safe keeping and improved conservation and fortunately we still have these objects with us at the National Museum of Afghanistan. Sadly, the upper part of the museum building was destroyed by shelling in May During this period of confusion and destruction many of our most important and beautiful objects were stolen, totalling almost 70% of our collection. The fate of these exquisite ivory inlays was unknown and we feared them to be lost forever. Some of these important pieces have since been generously bought for us by a small number of private individuals. The group of twenty published here are the largest number to be returned to us. We are very grateful to the person who has helped us on this great occasion and for his kindness and generosity. We are pleased to announce that these important pieces have been safely returned to us and are now once again part of our collection in the National Museum of Afghanistan. We also thank all of those others who have helped us on this occasion, especially the British Museum for its conservation and important scientific analyses of these pieces. This work helps us better understand the high level of craftsmanship behind the objects from Begram and the close relations between our country and our neighbours. We look forward to seeing more of our stolen treasures returned to our museum and hope that this great act of generosity and collaboration will inspire others to continue in this way to work with us for a better understanding of the rich culture of our country. ii

5 Preface by the Sponsor Bank of America Merrill Lynch is proud to have supported the conservation of the beautiful Begram Ivories through our global Art Conservation Project. These pieces featured in the British Museum s fascinating 2011 exhibition: Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World, which we also had the opportunity to support. We are therefore delighted to be working with the British Museum once again on this important publication, to share vital knowledge on the restoration process, and to shed light on the historical relevance of the ivories. As a company serving customers and clients in more than 100 countries, we understand how the arts create meaningful connections between people, communities, and cultures. We do this through sponsorships, sharing our collection through our Art in Our Communities programme, outreach and public access initiatives, and through our Art Conservation Project. This initiative provides grants to not-for-profit institutions to conserve artworks that are significant to the cultural heritage of a country or region, or important to history of art. At the same time, the project highlights the crucial need for support of art conservation and the importance of preserving cultural treasures for future generations. Since 2010, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has provided grants to museums in 25 countries supporting a total of 57 conservation works. Recent projects have ranged from Gustave Courbet s monumental L Atelier du peintre, Augustus Saint-Gaudens celebrated sculpture Diana, an eighth-century Qur an, a double-sided oil painting by German Expressionist Ludwig Meidner anticipating the horrors of WW1, large scale mural cartoons by Diego Rivera, and a selection of paintings by South African artist Gerard Sekoto. This book is a fitting testament to the important academic research and conservation work already carried out. It also marks the spirit of international collaboration and mutual understanding which have enabled a wide audience to view these rare and stunning relics and for them to be returned to the Afghan nationals. We hope that you enjoy and learn from these pages as much as we have. iii

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7 Acknowledgements Without a great act of generosity, the objects which are the subject of this book would not have returned to the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul and the work detailed within this volume would not have been carried out. We therefore owe a great vote of thanks to the single individual who purchased these objects on behalf of the museum in Kabul and entrusted the British Museum with their conservation and secure return. The conservation was made possible by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Programme and we are very grateful to them and those who made this possible. This work was carried out under intense pressure of time and we are indebted to all of those concerned, especially the scientists and conservators who worked directly on these objects, but also others across the museum who backed this project from the outset, especially Neil MacGregor, Andrew Burnett, John Curtis, David Saunders, Catherine Higgitt, Carolyn Marsden-Smith, Claire Everitt and Jennifer Suggitt. The scientific research was carried out by Emma Passmore, Janet Ambers, Catherine Higgitt, Giovanni Verri, Caroline Cartwright and Duncan Hook, and the conservation undertaken by Clare Ward and Barbara Wills. The objects were exhibited in the British Museum as the highlight to the conclusion of its special exhibition, Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World, from 3rd March to 17th July They were mounted for display by Sarah Choy and Xavier Duffy of the Department of the Middle East, with the assistance of Petra Rea (Department of Prehistory & Europe). They were later packed for return to Kabul in 2012 by Sarah Choy, and condition photographs taken by Jerry Baker. The return of these sensitive and fragile objects was one of the most challenging parts of the project, and we are very grateful to Sir David Richards, then Chief of the British Armed Forces, for agreeing to directly facilitate this. Many others helped at this stage, both directly and indirectly, and we should mention Jonathan Tubb and Dean Baylis from the British Museum side, many others from the British Armed Forces whom we cannot name individually, and various other individuals, including Dr Robert Knox and Jolyon Leslie. This publication was edited by St John Simpson and incorporates all of the scientific analyses and conservation treatment records completed by the colleagues listed here as co-authors. The scientific images were taken by Janet Ambers but the remaining photographs were enhanced for publication by St John Simpson. The introductory map is by Paul Goodhead and was used in the exhibition. Other images are credited as appropriate and we would like to thank Dr Volkmar Thewalt, Mrs Cathy Stephens, Paul Bucherer-Dietschi and the late David Whitehouse for kindly providing some of these. We are also very grateful to Dr Masoudi for permission to use photographs taken by Thierry Olivier on behalf of the National Museum of Afghanistan of objects exhibited in the recent travelling exhibition, and to Dr Ph. Marquis and the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan for permission to reproduce some of the original excavation photographs. We are also grateful to various other colleagues, both within the museum and outside, for their comments on these objects, including Dr Sanjyot Mehendale, Dr Lolita Nehru, Dr Elizabeth Rosen Stone, Dr Michael Willis and Dr Richard Blurton. Moreover, we owe thanks to a large number of individuals who have shared their observations and experiences of the situation in Kabul after the civil war and their efforts to safeguard dispersed contents of the museum. This publication was peer reviewed and we are very grateful to the anonymous referee for their comments prior to publication. Publication of this monograph was made possible through the generous support of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. v