Philadelphia Antiques Show 2016_

A Q : & Q : Q : A : A : A : Your book takes the reader into the dark underbelly of museums through stories about treasures that were confiscated by the Nazis, smuggled out of the National Archives, and looted from graves. What led to this interest? My interest was sparked by a conversation at a cocktail party with an insurance executive specializing in museums. He told me most museums have hundreds of questionable items buried in their collections. That really got my attention. Questionable items? Yes. Most museums own some objects with a checkered past: some spoils of war, or souvenirs of colonial expansion, or artwork purchased long ago from an unscrupulous dealer. These may or may not be suspicious, but we can’t tell because their provenance—record of ownership—is incomplete or altogether missing. You wrote two books about museums— Stolen, Smuggled, Sold is your second. You served as Executive Director of the Atwater Kent Museum, now Philadelphia History Museum, and had many museums as clients. Where did this interest come from? I guess it came frommymother, who lovedmuseums. Some of my earliest memories are afternoons at the Carnegie Museum, a short streetcar ride from our home in Pittsburgh. The Carnegie is a Natural History, Art, Archaeology, and Anthropology museum all rolled into one – a treasure trove for a curious child. NancyMoses Author of Stolen, Smuggled, Sold: On the Hunt for Cultural Treasures ✷ 96 ✷