Is Silver Lining The Wrong Pockets?

Fifteen silver utensils on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York were likely looted from Greek ruins and later smuggled out of Italy, The Boston Globe reported Friday.

Italian authorities have evidence - including testimony from the man who said he found the pieces - that proves the collection was taken from the ancient site of Morgantina in Sicily, the newspaper reported.

It said Italian authorities have tried for two years to convince Met officials that the goods are stolen. A Met spokesman, Harold Holzer, said, "Our curators do not buy on the illicit market."

Giuseppe Mascara reportedly told police he unearthed the collection in 1980. Mascara described in minute detail an emblem with gold leaf and an image of Scylla, a mythological sea monster. The Met collection has an emblem matching the description.

Italian officials also have U.S. customs documents that show the Met bought the pieces in 1981 and 1982 for $2.7 million through antiquities dealer Robert Hecht Jr.

Hecht previously had been barred from Italy for a questionable art deal with the Met involving a 2,500-year-old Greek vase. In both transactions, the Met claimed it bought the pieces from Lebanese dealer Nabil Asfar, who had owned them for decades, The Globe reported.

Hecht, 79, did not deny the silver treasure was looted but said that he was merely a courier for Asfar, and had never looted anything himself. Asfar, who faces charges in London related to selling looted art, could not be located for comment by the newspaper.

A United Nations agreement, signed by the United States in 1972, prohibits looting and trading in looted art. Many museums now avoid buying artifacts if they can't document ownership before 1972.

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