A Cypriot antiquity was handed over to the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Paris on December 19, the Department of Antiquities of the Deputy Ministry of Culture said here on Wednesday.
The antiquity had been identified in an online auction by Archaeological Officers of the Antiquities Department responsible for monitoring the illegal trafficking of Cypriot antiquities on the internet and was withdrawn following consultation with the auction house, an official press release says.
According to the Department, the antiquity consists of a Stemmed bowl (kylix) of Bichrome ??? ware of the Cypro-Geometric III period (900-750 B.C.) with a pair of opposed loop handles and decorated with black paint, while groups of vertical lines frame a central swastika on each side of central panel and there is banded decoration on the interior.
The Department of Antiquities would like to express its gratitude to Nabécor Enchères and the donors for their voluntary return of the antiquity to its country of origin, as well as to the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Paris for their cooperation and the coordination of the repatriation procedures, the statement concludes.