On Wednesday, the 6th of December 1995, a Bété statue was returned to the National Museum of Abidjan.

This statue had disappeared from the collections of the National Museum of Abidjan in the 70s, during a travelling exhibition in Europe. It thus never returned to its country. In 1989, this statue appeared on the French art market where it was put up for sale by Maitre Loudmer. In 1992 it was again put up for sale at Drouot by Maitre Loudmer.

In December 1992, during the pre-auction exhibition, the statue was seized by the Office central pour la répression du vol d'oeuvres et d'objets d'art (OCRVOOA) following a complaint from the Côte d'Ivoire.
During the litigation, ICOM was the guardian of the object.
Thanks to the competent action of the Klein-Goddard firm, attorneys for the Côte d'Ivoire, the owner of this statue, Mr. Pierre Nahon, accepted to return it graciously to its country of origin.

This object appeared in "Looting in Africa", publication of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

ICOM considers the fight against the illicit traffic of cultural property to be one of the main objectives of its programme activities. Thus, ICOM hoped to make the public aware of this traffic by publishing a series of books entitled "100 Missing Objects". These publications contain photos and descriptions of the objects stolen from public collections or looted from sites.

The books, which have been widely distributed to concerned professionals (museums, art dealers, galleries, auction houses, police...) have already had considerable success.

Following the publication of "Looting in Angkor", the first issue of the "100 Missing Objects" series, several objects of Khmer art appearing in the work were found.

-The statue DCA 1429 (p.37) was returned to the Cambodian Embassy in Paris on December 4, 1993, by a Parisian art dealer, Mr. Beurdeley.
-The statue DCA 7081 (p. 46) was found in Switzerland in January 1995 after having been sold by Sotheby's New York. It is awaiting restitution.
-The head DCA 3489 (p. 92) was found in Great Britain in November 1994, following its sale by Sotheby's London. The owner of the piece informed the Cambodian authorities of his wish to return it to Cambodia.
-The head DCA 5729 (p. 80) was found in March 1994 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. The directors of the museum verified the authenticity of the claim with ICOM and immediately contacted the Cambodian authorities who officially requested the restitution of the object.

The Bété statue of the Côte d'Ivoire is not the only success of "Looting in Africa".

-A "Sakalava" statue from Madagascar published in the "Looted Objects" section of the book (p. 101) was seized on the stand of the art dealer Alain de Monbrison at the Salon de Mars in Paris, in March 1995. It was returned on the 3rd of May 1995 by Mr. de Monbrison to the Embassy of Madagascar in Paris. This piece has now returned to its country.
- 6 other objects of the same type were seized at the Brussels antique fair in January 1995. They are awaiting restitution.

These restitutions are very encouraging, particularly as concerns looted objects such as the Sakalava statutes of Madagascar, because these objects are not catalogued in the museums.
The work of ICOM has enabled it to make known the national legislation of the different African countries which forbid the clandestine excavation of archaeological objects and the exportation of these properties.

However, these restitutions are only symbolic, considering the magnitude of the looting and thefts. They are nonetheless exemplary cases leading to increased awareness of the gravity of trafficking by dealers and collectors.

ICOM's objective is not to combat the art market, but to incite this economic sector to abide by ethical standards.

Theft and looting are not only crimes against cultural property, they deprive populations of transmitting cultural vestiges to their descendants, and the memory of entire civilisations.

Contact for information: Valérie Jullien jullien@icom.org