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$35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

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Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#231

Post by wegwerfbenutzer »

adastra22 wrote: post #189
Wohlf wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possession and sale of stolen goods is not legal, just not a crime unless you are aware it's stolen/likely stolen.

Well by that logic it was stolen by the person who dug it up in Italy. After all, there’s someone walking around Italy today that is the heir to this sculpture. You have to draw the line somewhere.

How do you know it was dug up in Italy?

It could also be from the following countries:

At its zenith, the Roman Empire included these today's countries and territories: most of Europe (England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Gibraltar, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine), coastal northern Africa (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt), the Balkans (Albania, Greece, Hungary, Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey), the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, Asia Minor, and some parts of Mesopotamia and the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Israel).

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#233

Post by paulcole »

phil21 wrote: post #18
paulcole wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the hiring a lawyer thing is mind boggling. If that’s the only option, then just donate the stupid head back to Goodwill and be done with it. Goodwill even says they don’t keep records about who makes donations!

Why is it mind boggling? I'd hire a lawyer instantly if I became aware I was in possession of stolen war loot. It's a war crime, and things can get quite iffy really quickly - especially if somehow it goes viral. Much better to just CYA and spend $500 on a lawyer so you ensure you don't go to prison or be held liable for something silly. Call it a hard lesson I've learned multiple times over throughout my life. When…

> Why is it mind boggling?

Because in this situation it’s comically risk-averse and a good way to burn $500 (which I would guess is quite low for what sounds like protracted negotiations) — if she was trying to protect herself and not cash in on this thing.

She’s not a war criminal, she bought a statue at Goodwill.

Once word’s out, just don’t hire a lawyer and stick it in your attic. Somebody’s either gonna come get it or they won’t. If you absolutely must, take it to a police station and drop it off or call the local news and see if they want to do a story on it.

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#234

Post by paulcole »

heleninboodler wrote: post #198
paulcole wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the hiring a lawyer thing is mind boggling. If that’s the only option, then just donate the stupid head back to Goodwill and be done with it. Goodwill even says they don’t keep records about who makes donations!

My guess is that she placed a high value on trying to get an ancient piece of art back to its rightful owner without falling afoul of any laws governing possession of stolen art, and that hiring a lawyer is a pretty good way to deal with that situation. She could have saved herself a lot of trouble by chucking it in a lake, but something tells me that wouldn't have been a satisfying outcome to her. Everything humans…

Yeah, I guess I just don’t get placing a higher value on this thing than whoever it belonged to. If they want it back, just come get it. If I have to get a lawyer involved and beg them to take it off my hands, seems like they don’t really give a shit so why should I?

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#235

Post by trhr »

stevezsa8 wrote: post #218
brewdad wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She didn't steal it and there's no way anyone could ever presume she knew it was stolen. IF she had kept her mouth shut.

This is actually an interesting question. - If you find £10,000 cash in the street, do you keep it? - If you find a watch in the street, do you keep it? - If you bought a laptop from your cousin Vinny for $50 and found out it was stolen, do you keep it? In my country of residence, all of these are crimes (theft by finding / knowingly handling stolen property). Obviously, someone could choose to keep their mouth shut.…

The average American commits 3 felonies a day.

I'm willing to keep found treasure as one of my 3.

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#236

Post by JKCalhoun »

O__________O wrote: post #3

Odd, why is this Roman sculpture being returned to Germany? It’s obviously not a German artifact and while I might be wrong, I assume it was “looted” from Italy.

When I saw it I assumed it was of Charles Laughton from "I, Claudius".

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#237

Post by pessimizer »

dleslie wrote: post #27
Arainach wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Goodwill in particular moves items between markets and prices them based on the local economy. Gone are the days of 2010 when you could walk into the Bellevue Goodwill and find lightly used designer clothing that some retired Microsoft engineer was tired of. Now everything's priced higher than eBay and there's no reason to stop by. Everyone else wants to be a "Boutique" and charge high end prices for used goods. Blam…

I suspect that it's largely because Goodwill and Sally Ann became unofficial suppliers for vintage clothing stores. They probably upped their prices in response to that market. And now Facebook neighborhood free groups are (often unknowingly) supplying such stores; as well as folks simply turning around and relisting on Facebook marketplace.

They've been that for at least 30 years. When I was a kid a friend of mine had a vintage shop in Portland, OR, and they got first crack at what came into a couple of local thrift stores. This was official - vintage shop people would show up at a specific time while the stuff was still in bins and pick through it before it went into the store.

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#238

Post by pessimizer »

Arainach wrote: post #20
tomcam wrote: post #19

What amazes me about all these stories is the ridiculously low prices the thrift store charged. Here in the Seattle area, everything seems to grossly overpriced in thrift stores.

Goodwill in particular moves items between markets and prices them based on the local economy. Gone are the days of 2010 when you could walk into the Bellevue Goodwill and find lightly used designer clothing that some retired Microsoft engineer was tired of. Now everything's priced higher than eBay and there's no reason to stop by. Everyone else wants to be a "Boutique" and charge high end prices for used goods. Blam…

Goodwill is (and was in 2010) fairly shrewd about this stuff. They were running pretty successful auctions on their own site last time I checked. I once got caught up in the bidding for a rare board game there that ended up going for hundreds of dollars.

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#239

Post by _jal »

Ansil849 wrote: post #59
_jal wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be confusing descriptive for normative. They're stating a fact, not asserting the fact justifies some behavior.

It's a glib fact (and in fact, not even a fact as you by definition cannot assert something that didn't happen as a fact) that detracts from the theft. But sure, yes, if they had not been stolen, certain items may have been destroyed. OK. And, so what, what's your point beyond this trite truism?

The point was to attempt to correct an apparent misunderstanding.

What's the point of your weirdly aggressive hostility?

Re: $35 sculpture found at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII

#240

Post by pmontra »

samplatt wrote: post #219
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're assuming it was taken by force. What if... it was bought from an Italian goodwill in the 1800's?

Hell, maybe an Italian goodwill in the 400's.

Yep, maybe just commissioned by a citizen of the Roman Empire living in today's Germany back when Pompeius was a general still in the news.
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