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Friday, 18th May 2007 (4787 views)

Auction houses in the UK are being asked by the government of Peru to hand back gold artefacts that are about to be sold.

Venues like Christie's and Sotheby's are about to sell hundreds of pre-Colombian artefacts made out of gold and other precious metals, some of which are over two thousand years old.

But the Peruvian authorities claim that if these auction houses were ethical they would hand over the artefacts because they are cultural assets for Peru and should be returned to the country.

A law, designed to protect Peruvian culture, has been in operation since 1822 which says any piece of art taken from Peru after this year is taken illegally.

However, Christie's and Sotheby's have refused.

"We have received no information from the Peruvian government or from any other sources which would lead us to believe that any of these lots were stolen or improperly exported out of Peru," a statement said.

The auction house claims that the government left it very late before staking its claim on the items and that the current owners have good entitlement to them.

 

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