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# Value of Looted Objects at Met Museum Tops $95M After New Seizures
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/value-of-looted-objects-at-met-museum-tops-95m-after-new-seizures/
- Published: 2026-07-01T21:27:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-01T21:27:49.000Z
- Description: Several ancient sculptures and vessels acquired between 1971 and 2001 were among the objects extracted from The Met's collection this June.
- Author: Rhea Nayyar
- Tags: News, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Restitution, provenance

Following the recent seizure of several objects from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection in June, the total valuation of looted artifacts surrendered by the museum now stands at a whopping $95 million. In addition to hundreds of small-scale items linked to smuggling schemes, investigators have seized 120 objects worth between $20,000 and $26 million from The Met's holdings since 2017.

The Met told the [*New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/arts/design/met-returns-looted-artifacts-95-million.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) that the ongoing object recovery is a mutual effort between the museum's own provenance research team, which was [instituted in 2023](https://hyperallergic.com/met-museum-will-hire-team-to-investigate-looted-art/) and recently expanded to a 12-person operation led by former Sotheby's restitution head [Lucian Simmons](https://hyperallergic.com/met-museum-hires-sothebys-staffer-lucian-simmons-to-lead-provenance-research/), and investigators from the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. 

Per the *Times*, investigators had subpoenaed object records for museum-acquired pieces [linked to trafficking networks and dealers](https://hyperallergic.com/three-antiquities-traffickers-and-their-fall-from-grace/) suspected of fudging or omitting provenance information altogether. They laterpresented The Met with the evidence and supporting research to facilitate restitution. 

*Hyperallergic* has contacted the Manhattan DA's Office and The Met for comment. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/07/turkey-bronze.jpg)

Acquired in 1971, this cast bronze statuette depicting the Greco-Roman god Hermes, dated between the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE, was deaccessioned from The Met's collection and restituted to Turkey in June 2026\. (image via The [Met](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255323?ref=hyperallergic.com))

Investigators explained that the museum's own curatorial records, includingcondition reports and other notations identifying objects that had arrived at The Met encrusted in dirt, functioned as reliable evidence of illegal digging and trafficking on more than one occasion. 

With origins across Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Turkey, several ancient sculptures and vessels acquired between 1971 and 2001 were among the objects recently extracted from The Met's collection this June — some of which have already been [recorded](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545028?ref=hyperallergic.com) as [restituted](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256203?ref=hyperallergic.com) on the museum's website. The museum clarified that the aforementioned objects weren't literally seized, but instead sent from the museum's holdings to the DA's office after being flagged as improperly acquired. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/07/DT6549.jpg)

An early 1st-century CE marble bust that had been acquired in 1991 was restituted to Greece in June 2026\. (image via [The Met](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255979?ref=hyperallergic.com))

As investigators continue to identify, inventory, and appraise dozens of trafficked artifacts and antiquities from the museum's collection, The Met also noted to the *Times* that it has independently initiated 18 object restitutions since 2017\. The museum also underscored its role in brokering the restitution of over [150 Cycladic antiquities](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/11/arts/design/stern-cycladic-antiquities-met-museum-greece.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) from billionaire Leonard Stern's private collection to Greece in 2022 — though the Greek government agreed to allow The Met to [continue displaying the sculptures](https://hyperallergic.com/this-is-not-repatriation-stern-cycladic-art-met-greece/) through a 25-year loan. 

Simmons said in a statement that the in-house assessments for each artifact are neither straightforward nor speedy, while Matthew Bogdanos, who steers the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, told the *Times* that the continued seizures at the museum “spoke for themselves.”