Sotheby’s is taking Greece’s ministry of culture to court over the ownership of an ancient Greek bronze horse, in a highly unusual legal attempt by the auction house “to clarify the rights of legitimate owners” amid a surge in spurious claims by countries of origin.

Despite the fact that suspected Italian antiquities smuggler Giacomo Medici was acquitted by Italian authorities in 2011, and the objects in his photographic archive were subsequently cleared by the Carabinieri, anti-art trade vigilante, Christos Tsirogiannis, declares these objects, "sacred things," that must be confiscated from their owners. All while Italian auction houses have increasingly been given the go ahead to legally sell and export similar material.

The dealer categorically denies that the piece was stolen, it has been known since 1935, and had been on display in a Canadian museum since 1951, without any calls from Iran for its return. The New York District Attorney is now bogged down in a convoluted legal battle on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the owners of the relief and the Canadian insurance company from whom they acquired it.

Making the Case for Global Responsibility to Protect Heritage in Conflict

The New York District Attorney’s office, under the aggressive direction of Cyrus Vance and dedicated anti-art trade crusader Assistant DA Matthew Bogdanos, has made two cultural property seizures in recent weeks. Neither object was recently looted; together, they had been in museums or private collections for over 115 years. There was no evidence of wrongdoing by the collectors or dealers involved.

Anti-art-trade zealot Christos Tsirogiannis claimed that two Greek marble lekythoi on sale in London on behalf of the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt, were stolen and therefore illegal to sell, despite the fact that the canton of Basel-Stadt received permission to sell the items from the Italian Carabinieri, who had sent back to Basel more than 1,000 antiquities from the original seizure of the Sicilian dealer Becchina's Swiss warehouse, stating that Italy had no legal claim to ownership of the pieces.