Peter John Higgs, a prominent curator who worked at the British Museum for 30 years, has been identified in the UK Through two broadleaf mediaAs someone allegedly responsible for the theft of priceless artifacts from the museum’s collection, The Daily Telegraph Newspaper reports.
Higgs is suspected of having worked for years without being detected and of having removed unclassified items from the museum’s collection before selling them on eBay. the a report in The Daily Telegraph The newspaper reported that items from the museum’s collection first appeared on eBay as early as 2016.
Higgs allegedly took small pieces of gold jewelry, as well as precious stones, from the collection, some of which date back to ancient Rome. The objects in question are believed to be worth tens of millions of pounds.
Yesterday the museum announced an independent review of why Higgs was allegedly able to remove items from the collection without disclosing them; Certainly, the review raises tough questions about what appears to be a massive security breach. Senior figures from the UK museum sector today wonder whether the British Museum can still be considered the responsible custodian of its collection, which includes many disputed items.
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Higgs was first appointed to the museum in 1993 and has served in a curatorial capacity as the museum’s department head for Greece and Rome. Known as one of the museum’s so-called “monuments men”, he was the chief curator of the exhibition The Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors, and Heroeswhich was shown at the museum in 2021 and is currently on tour.
The Daily Telegraph The report states that an unnamed archaeologist informed the museum of the illicit activity three years ago, but that the museum only acted in expelling Higgs earlier this year. It is now making the decision to break the news, which comes shortly after the announcement that director Hartwig Fischer will be leaving his post at the museum early next year.
Higgs was identified as the alleged thief when he began selling items which, unlike previous pieces, had been comprehensively cataloged by the museum and could therefore be traced back to their digital inventory. Although he worked under a pseudonym on eBay, a portal on his Paypal account linked to his Twitter feed, on which he used his real name.
On the British Museum’s website, Higgs is pictured with a 2,000-year-old Libyan statue, which was in the process of being returned to its home country after it was smuggled across Europe.
In the telegraph Higgs’ family said he was innocent of all wrongdoing and vowed to clear his name. No arrests have yet been made, although the British Museum is committed to taking legal action if an arrest is made.
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