Getty Returns Bronze Couch to Turkey

 

Funerary Couch, about 530 BC. Formerly Getty Museum

The Getty Museum has restituted an Archaic bronze funerary couch to Turkey (Türkiye). Physical evidence has established that the couch was illegally excavated from a tomb in Manisa shortly before the Getty acquired it from a Swiss dealer in 1982. That dealer's provenance for the piece was determined to be fake. I'm not aware that the couch was ever on view at the Getty Villa. 

Press releases on returns of looted antiquities usually find the parties striking a unified collegial tone. One quote from Turkey's Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gökhan Yazgi, hints at unresolved issues: "Türkiye and the Getty Museum may hold differing positions on the matter of return and restitution. However, the announcement today can be seen as a sign of closer cooperation in the future toward the shared goal of combating the illicit trafficking of antiquities. I believe both sides are now much closer to understanding each other's perspectives."