A stone figurine of a female deity, once part of the collection of longtime Metropolitan Museum of Art trustee Shelby White, has been returned to Turkey.
The small stone statue, showing a seated figure, was discovered in the U.S. as part of a long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into the origins of objects in White’s collection.
The return was organized by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, led by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. Ersoy’s administration included the piece in a display at the Karatay Madrasa Ceramic Art Museum in Konya.
This repatriation is part of Turkey’s larger effort to recover stolen or illegally exported artifacts. In 2022, Turkey signed an agreement with Switzerland to combat the trafficking of antiquities.
Turkey’s push to recover cultural property comes as tourism to the country has declined. Recent statistics show that from 2014 to 2023, international visitors dropped by 17%, from 1.8 million to 1.5 million.
Ömer Faruk Türkan, Director of Konya Museums, spoke at the exhibition’s opening, noting that the region is home to many ancient civilizations that have been looted over the years. “This land is home to countless civilizations,” he said.
The figurine’s return is part of a larger investigation into the origins of items in White’s collection, which started in 2022. By 2023, several artifacts were returned to Turkey and Italy after being seized from White’s home in Manhattan.
After its return, the figurine was first displayed at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara before being shown in Konya.
