Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Swiss canton has ‘legal’ claim to controversial artefacts

Archeological Roman site
It is not known how Guigoz got his hands on the artefacts that may have been uncovered at archeological digs. Keystone / Ciro Fusco

A Swiss canton has legal ownership of rare ancient artefacts, but only because it took possession of the collection before regulations were introduced to prevent unlawful imports of cultural objects.

Therefore, the so-called Guigoz collection in western Switzerland does not breach Swiss law, according to an expert study commissioned in 2014 to examine the controversy.

The report on the 3,700 ancient and medieval art objects originating from the Mediterranean region was made public on Tuesday.

They were originally collected by industrialist Edouard Guigoz who bequeathed them to the canton of Valais in 1970 upon his death.

The provenance of the collection has come under suspicion, prompting the return of a stolen marble statue to Italy in 1979 and for the remaining artefacts to be placed into storage since 1985.

Valais cantonal authorities commissioned the study by art and law experts to gain legal clarity on the collection. The experts could find no specific evidence of theft of the artefacts, but their legal verdict is far from clear-cut.

Switzerland ratified a UNESCO treaty on the transfer of cultural artefacts in 2003 and two years later drew up its own laws to prohibit illegal smuggling.

As neither edict has retroactive reach, canton Valais can claim legal ownership of the collection, the study argued.

However, any museum that displays the artefacts in future could still be subject to claims for reimbursement from abroad, the experts added.

More

More

Switzerland restores image over art trafficking

This content was published on Alongside the United States, France and Britain, Switzerland is one of the principle trading centres for art. But until 2005 there was no law or national regulation governing this lucrative sector, which accounted for SFr1.39 billion ($1.21 billion) of imports and SFr1.4 billion of exports in 2009. This situation encouraged traffickers and unscrupulous art collectors.…

Read more: Switzerland restores image over art trafficking


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

11 percent of companies in line with Paris Agreement

More

Only 11% of companies in line with Paris Agreement

This content was published on Only 11 percent of listed companies worldwide are currently operating in line with the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. This is the conclusion of an analysis by the US financial services provider MSCI.

Read more: Only 11% of companies in line with Paris Agreement
Sicpa to cut up to 120 jobs in the canton of Vaud

More

Security firm Sicpa cuts jobs in western Switzerland

This content was published on Sicpa, a company specialising in security inks, announced on Thursday that it plans to cut up to 120 jobs in canton Vaud, citing a complicated international economic context and geopolitical tensions.

Read more: Security firm Sicpa cuts jobs in western Switzerland

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR