Ancient grasshopper vessel sale sparks theft debate

A controversial ancient Egyptian cosmetic vessel carved in the shape of a grasshopper sold for £340,000 at Apollo Art Auctions in London on July 27, igniting fresh debate over whether the artifact was stolen from King Tutankhamun's tomb in the 1920s. The sale proceeded despite widespread criticism from Egyptologists who argue the 3,300-year-old ivory and wood vessel rightfully belongs to Egypt.artcentron+1

The Controversial Provenance

The so-called Guennol Grasshopper, measuring just 3.5 inches long, has a complex ownership history that traces back to British archaeologist Howard Carter, who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. According to Apollo magazine, Carter discreetly sold the grasshopper to Egyptian dealer Maurice Nahman, who then sold it to New York dealer Joseph Brummer in 1936. The artifact eventually passed through the hands of renowned collector Alastair Bradley Martin and was most recently owned by heirs of the late Sheikh Saud al-Thani.news.artnet+2

Christian Loeben, curator at Germany's Museum August Kestner, told The New York Times he is "quite convinced" the grasshopper originated from Tutankhamun's tomb, citing its pristine condition and stylistic attributes consistent with the pharaoh's era. The artifact's exceptional preservation suggests it spent millennia sealed within a tomb chamber, with only minor damage to its checkerboard-patterned wings that were designed to fold outward to reveal a small cavity for storing kohl or perfume.observer+1

Auction House Defense

Apollo Art Auctions rejected claims of illicit origins, stating there is "no evidence directly linking it to his tomb, and it does not appear in any official excavation records". The auction house emphasized that the grasshopper was exported from Egypt in the 1930s, decades before the 1970 UNESCO Convention and Egypt's 1983 Antiquities Law. The Art Loss Register provided a certificate of clearance confirming the item was never reported as stolen.news.artnet+1

Both Christie's and Sotheby's had previously declined to handle the sale due to its complicated provenance. The grasshopper's connection to Tutankhamun's tomb was first publicly alleged in 1978 by Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in his book "Tutankhamun: The Untold Story".apolloauctions+1

Growing Evidence of Carter's Thefts

Recent scholarship has strengthened suspicions that Carter pilfered artifacts from the tomb. A previously unpublished 1934 letter from philologist Alan Gardiner to Carter stated that a "whm amulet" shown to him "has been undoubtedly stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun". The Metropolitan Museum of Art returned 19 ancient Egyptian objects "attributed with certainty to Tutankhamun's tomb" to Egypt in 2010.instagram

The grasshopper's sale highlights ongoing tensions in the antiquities market as museums and collectors increasingly scrutinize the ethics of displaying potentially stolen cultural heritage. Despite the controversy, Apollo Auctions expressed hope the artifact would "enter a public collection where it can be responsibly cared for and accessible to all".news.artnet