Bulgaria stops auction of medieval dish
The auction of a 12th-century silver dish at a British auction house has been cancelled because of concerns that the precious object was looted and smuggled out of Bulgaria, the country’s culture minister said today.
The dish was to be sold on November 9 at Christie’s in London at an estimated price between £300,000 (€447,800) and £500,000 (€746,400).
Stefan Danailov said, however, that the auction house heeded a warning by Bulgarian authorities to stop the sale until a clarification of the object’s origins was complete.
The silver dish engraved with a hunting scene is a fine example of medieval Byzantine craft, and was allegedly found by looters in 1999 close to the Bulgarian town of Pazardzhik, Danailov said.
An investigation is still under way to determine how the dish was smuggled out of Bulgaria.
