Questions of ownership
ESTITUTIONS of looted and stolen works of art are among the most complicated and emotional issues to plague the market, potentially blighting relations between countries and peoples forever. Plunder and pillage have always been inseparable from warfare and imperial endeavours, from the massive depredations organised by a Napoleon, Hitler or Goering to instances of souvenir-taking by individual soldiers. Temptation can be intense, as Robert Clive made clear to the committee investigating his actions in India: ‘Consider the situation in which the victory at Plassey had placed me. A great prince was
