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Selling the Past: United States v. Frederick Schultz April 22, 2002
by Alexi Shannon Baker

Updates:
June 11, 2002
May 29, 2003
June 25, 2003

Frederick Schultz was at the top of his game in the 1990s. His Manhattan art gallery was thriving and, as the president of the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental and Primitive Art (NADAOPA), he was advising the Clinton administration on antiquities agreements. But according to testimony from agents at Scotland Yard and the F.B.I., Schultz, perhaps the most powerful person in the antiquities trade, was selling looted and smuggled artifacts even as he advised lawmakers against targeting those activities.

Details on the Trial: Ten Years in the Making

International Antiquities Law Since 1900

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Frederick Schultz sold this looted head of Amenhotep III for $1.2 million in 1993.

"It's a bit ironic," says Ricardo Elia, an archaeologist at Boston University. "I was there in 1999, when Italy was in Washington seeking important restrictions for looted material. Schultz was testifying as the president of NADAOPA about how horrible the agreement was and that he didn't know of any looting going on at Italian archaeological sites."   [Continue...]

Alexi Shannon Baker is an intern with ARCHAEOLOGY. She will obtain a master's degree in science and environmental reporting from New York University in December.

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© 2002 by the Archaeological Institute of America
archive.archaeology.org/online/features/schultz/

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