This week, the British Museum in London launched legal proceedings against one of its former curators, Peter Higgs, who is accused of stealing up to 2,000 objects from its collection. The archaeologist who first spotted stolen items, however, has described the legal action as “locking the stable door after the horse has bolted”.
Higgs was the museum’s curator of Ancient Greek collections, recently promoted to the acting head of the Greece and Rome department. Last year he was sacked following revelations that a large number of objects had been damaged or gone missing and this week the museum sued Higgs for the return of any remaining artefacts in his possession.
In 2020 Martin Henig, an expert in engraved gemstones, identified part of a Roman signet ring, which was available for sale, as belonging to the British Museum. After the item was returned, Henig, with the scholar and art dealer Ittai Gradel, found evidence of other items for sale which had seemingly been stolen from the collection. Despite their attempts to highlight this to the museum, their warnings to directors were dismissed.
Henig said: “The legal action is very much a case of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, though maybe it will bring to light a few more of the stolen items. The affair leaves me feeling very sad and depressed. Part of the problem has to be underfunding. But inevitably the institution bears some of the culpability for its negligence. The gems should be given the same attention, care and cataloguing skill accorded to the ancient coins in the museum which are accorded much more attention.”
A number of the stolen items ended up for sale on the online auction site eBay, often at prices far below their true value. In 2002, Higgs told the Times newspaper that some of the museum’s extensive Greek and Roman collection had not been catalogued for more than a century, describing its strongrooms as “chaos down here”. An undercover reporter for the Times posing as a work experience trainee under the supervision of Higgs walked out of the museum with the foot of a statue from the third century BC, valued at £20,000.
Jason Felch, an author and investigative reporter who has spent a decade researching the illicit antiquities trade, said the Times investigation should have been a wake-up call to the museum. He suggests that the impact a lack of funding for the museum sector has on salaries is also a cause for concern: “One clear sign of the deeper problems at the museum is prominently displayed on its website: a job listing for Higgs’s role, curator of the Greek and Roman collection. It pays just £33,803 per year. Ironically, it was the British Museum’s current chairman George Osborne who, as chancellor of the exchequer, championed austerity measures that slashed cultural spending in the UK.”
In court filings, the museum’s lawyer Daniel Burgess said Higgs used fake names, created false documents and manipulated the museum’s records to cover his tracks. A police investigation into the case is ongoing and no charges have been made. Higgs’s son, Greg, has denied that his father was involved in the thefts.
Aisling Prior, curator at the office for art in Dublin said: “Throughout history, it’s been assumed that artists and curators are especially ethical, possibly because of the vocational, and sometimes selfless characterisation of the professions. Therefore it’s shocking when so many precious items go missing from such a famous institution and when such an esteemed curator as Peter Higgs is accused of the theft. This legal action by the British Museum is a remarkable admission that none of his superiors were aware of his alleged criminal activity for the ten years preceding his dismissal. The British Museum should be ashamed of its own record of custodianship."
The British Museum said it had no further comment when contacted by The Art Newspaper. The Art Newspaper was unable to reach Peter Higgs for comment.