OCR Text |
Show ITALIAN ANTIQUITIES. An UndorgraHincl Trade- Iu Them In Bplto of l.cjrtil Interdictions. ,, ' Some days ago a well-known dealer in antiquities offered for sale to the "Com re museum in Paris a splendid collection col-lection of ancient vases from Italy or Greek or Italian workmanship, snys the . London News. The museum was unable una-ble to pay the price naked 20,000 and declined the bargain. The Italiun minister of education, having learned of this, lias taken proceedings under the l'acca law ngainst Sig. di Priseo, the owner of these antiquities. The latter is a large land owner at Posco ltealc. lie secretly made excavations on his estate and found 28 silver vases of remote antiquity. an-tiquity. - Notwithstanding the Italian law prohibiting pro-hibiting owners of antiquities from sending them out of the country with-, with-, out leave, or, rather, on account of this law,f which prevents old works of art from commanding anything like their natural price in the impoerishi'd country, coun-try, Sig. di Priseo smuggled his llnd out of Italy and offered it to a Paris dealer for i; 5,000. Continuing meanwhile his search, he found other silver ases, which duly joined their fellows in Paris, and tho whole lot was offered to the Louvre. The Italian minister of education educa-tion throws interesting light on the facilities which underpaid oflicials are supposed to afford illicit exporters of antiquities. He issues a notification that, should any oflicials bo found to have connived at this latest evasion of the Pneea law, they will lie criminally prosecuted. |