Greece Recovers Smuggled Artefacts from UK Firm Robin Symes

Greece repatriated a rare Attic marble votive relief dating to the second half of the 4th century BC and five bronze anthropomorphic figurines from London on January 22, following the successful conclusion of a long-running legal claim, the Ministry of Culture announced.

The artefacts had remained in the possession of the company Robin Symes Limited, which is currently under liquidation in the United Kingdom. The Greek state began its legal pursuit for their return in 2006. Authorities will now add the objects to the hundreds of antiquities already repatriated from the same company in May 2023.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the return marks another significant result of the ministry’s systematic and well-organised effort to protect and reclaim Greece’s cultural heritage. She stressed that the Greek state never abandons its claims and confirmed that the ministry will continue identifying, documenting, and pursuing antiquities that left the country illegally. Mendoni underlined that every artefact forms part of Greece’s identity and history.

According to the ministry, the marble votive relief measures 52 centimetres in height and 92 centimetres in width and takes the form of a small shrine. An inscription on the architrave dedicates the relief to Artemis Mounichia. The goddess appears standing prominently, holding two lit torches in her left hand, while worshippers approach her in procession. Archaeologists securely identify the relief as originating from the sanctuary of Artemis Mounichia, located on the southern side of the ancient harbour of Mounichia, today’s Mikrolimano in Piraeus.

Experts describe the relief as particularly significant, as it constitutes the first known relief to come from this important sanctuary, from which only a very limited number of sculptures survive due to repeated destruction in antiquity. Authorities confirmed that the object constitutes a product of illegal trafficking.

The ministry also revealed that photographs of the relief appear in the archive of antiquities dealer Gianfranco Becchina, which Italian and Swiss authorities seized in Basel in 2002. The images, dated June 8, 1988, link the artefact to illegal excavation and smuggling from Greece, according to Greek judicial authorities.

The five bronze figurines, three male and two female, each stand approximately six centimetres tall. They depict worshippers raising their right hand in a gesture of supplication toward a deity, a common devotional pose in antiquity.

Authorities delivered all the repatriated artefacts to the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus, where they will remain under state protection.