The ownership of a Persian limestone relief sculpture from Persepolis is under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office after it was seized from the stand of Rupert Wace Ancient Art at TEFAF New York, writes Laura Chesters.
Wace legitimately purchased the carved fragment of a soldier from an insurance company, believed to be AXA.
It had been donated by philanthropi st Freder ick Cleveland Morgan to the Quebec National Museum in the early 1950s and was exhibited until 2011 when it was stolen. Following its recovery, the museum curators decided to keep the insurance money rather than have the object returned and it was then sold to Wace by the insurers.