Treasures: Zendaya’s earrings reignite controversy over ownership of antiques | An inheritance

The Odyssey has taken cinema by storm, but while its take on the Homeric epic has caused a stir, it’s the actor’s earring that has made waves.

Zendaya, who portrays the goddess Athena in the film, caused quite a stir when she appeared at a photocall in London. wearing earrings which is said to have been made from Iranian artifacts dating back to the 1st Millennium BC.

According to Barron London, a Mayfair museum and earring dealer, the gold medallion plaques “are said to have come from the Ziwiye hoard, which was found in the north-west. Iran late 1940s.” They were bought from a London jeweler, Glenn Spiro, who set them with diamonds in yellow gold.

But while the Mayfair retailer says the jewelery celebrates “the extraordinary skill of Persian goldsmiths” and encourages “a deep appreciation of the world’s many artistic traditions”, academics see it differently.

A petition has been launched calling on Barron’s London to publish all gold records, disclose the checks it carried out to confirm the products are legal, allow an inspection of the products, and stop the sale.

Zendaya is used to the glare of camera lenses, but the look of a veteran professional is something else.

Dr Christos Tsirogiannis, an antiquities expert at the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, said: “Personally, after twenty and a half years of all these scandals happening everywhere about all kinds of illegal antiquities…

Romina Frohar, founder of the Forensic Archive of Iran, an independent forensics expert on threats to Iran’s culture that launched the petition, said her concern was greater than Zendaya’s decision to wear the items.

“Barron London has described this loan as a celebration of ancient Persian art, but cultural appreciation is no substitute for transparency,” he said. “If these items are to be publicly displayed as Iranian cultural heritage, evidence related to their origin, export, ownership history and acquisition must be investigated.”

Even if the artifacts were authentic and legitimate, ethical issues could arise, said Frohar, a PhD researcher at the Glasgow School of Art. “Private care can be responsible if it is transparent, monitored and maintained and ensures access to the public and education professionals.”

The ring’s odyssey from BC Iran to A-list actors took a journey into the dark world of the rare trade – a business where fossils are turned into high-end weapons.

Many of the collections of Mayfair’s retailers, auction houses and public houses can be found at home in the museum’s galleries.

Among the items currently available for purchase from online retailers are a beaded Egyptian women’s mask that dates from somewhere between 664BC to 332BC; Greek gold earrings with garnet and agate from the 3rd century BC, and a bronze dress pin with goat-like ends that appear to be from Iran and may be 3,000 years old. Their prices start at around £450.

Similarly, auction houses have put amazing antiques under the hammer. In 2018, Christie’s sold a 3,000-year-old relief from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II, the Assyrian king who ruled 800 years before the Roman Empire, because. about $31m.

Tsirogiannis is no stranger to such deals. His work has been a testament to the skepticism of many antiquities on the market. “Approximately 90% of antiques on the market in one way or another, before long, are proven to be illegal or have no provenance, no documentation,” he said.

If Zendaya’s earrings were real, it would raise another moral dilemma: “Maybe they’re coming from a funeral,” she said.

Provenance and ownership of artefacts is a subject that has long gone beyond academics. Some of the more popular examples and the Koh-i-Noor diamondwhich was presented to Queen Victoria by the 10-year-old maharajah Duleep Singh in 1849 as part of the Treaty of Lahore, becoming part of the British jewels.

The rules regarding access to antiquities can be complicated.

“Many so-called antiquities countries now have state ownership laws stating that the antiquities found belong to the state,” said Simon Mackenzie, professor of criminology at Victoria University of Wellington (Te Herenga Waka) in New Zealand. “Therefore, discovering and stealing is actually a type of theft (from the government).”

“In many countries, including Iran, these laws were established over time and have not been reversed, so legal disputes can be established on the day the theft law was applied, he said.

As bad as it is, sprinkling modern celebrities on millennial treasures isn’t always a bad thing. When bling attracts academic attention, discussions about birth can begin.

When Kim Kardashian was caught wearing a gold dress next to a box made of Egyptian gold at the Met Gala in 2018, for example, antiquarian experts took notice.

The Met Museum acquired a 2,100-year-old coffin of a priest named Nedjemankh for $4m and made it the star of the show. However, Recently experts revealed it was dug up by thieves in 2011 and smuggled from Egypt to Dubai and then to Europe where it was returned and given false documents.

The legal and ethical issues that have come with Zendaya’s earrings are not insurmountable, but there are issues that don’t require a PhD to be seen.

As Tsirogiannis pointed out, the jewelry of the film’s star drew attention to Iran while promoting a film that had nothing to do with ancient Persia.