Actor Nicolas Cage returns $276,000 stolen Mongolian dinosaur skull to authorities
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 14, 2024


Actor Nicolas Cage returns $276,000 stolen Mongolian dinosaur skull to authorities
This August 30, 2013 file photo shows US actor Nicolas Cage at the 70th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. Nicolas Cage has agreed to turn over a rare stolen dinosaur skull he bought from Beverly Hills gallery I.M. Chait in 2007 for $276,000 USD to US authorities, so it can be returned to the Mongolian government. The office of Preet Bharara, the US attorney in Manhattan, filed a civil forfeiture complaint last week to take possession of the Tyrannosaurus bataar skull, which will be repatriated to Mongolia. AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABI.



NEW YORK (AFP).- US actor Nicolas Cage has agreed to turn over a dinosaur skull he purchased for $276,000, after it turned out to be smuggled from Mongolia, his agent confirmed Tuesday.

The actor bought the Tarbosaurus bataar fossil at a New York auction in March 2007 and "received a certificate of authenticity from the auction company," said Alex Schack, who represents Cage.

In 2014, however, the Department of Homeland Security contacted the actor to inform him that a years-long investigation had led them to believe it had been illegally smuggled from Mongolia.

Once authorities determined the fossil "was indeed illegally smuggled into the US and rightfully belongs to the government of Mongolia," Cage agreed to turn it over to Homeland Security, Schack said.

Cage, who won an Academy Award in 1996 for his leading role in "Leaving Las Vegas," is an avid collector and was reportedly in competition with Leonardo Di Caprio for purchase of the fossil, according to US media.

No charge has been filed against the actor or the Beverly Hills-based auction house, I.M. Chait.

According to the New York District Attorney's office -- which announced the fossil's return but did not include the actor's name when it made the case public -- the skull first arrived in the United States in Florida in 2006.

It arrived from Japan, with a customs document simply describing it as fossilized pieces of stone.

Mongolia considers all fossils found in its Gobi desert, especially those from its Nemegt geological formation, to be government property and has banned their export.

Tarbosaurus bataar lived during the Cretaceous period and disappeared some 65 million years ago. Its first fossils were discovered at the Nemegt formation in 1946. 

More than 30 specimens, including 15 skulls, have been discovered.

New York authorities have returned several fossils to Mongolia in recent years, including a Tarbosaurus bataar dating back 70 million years.

Measuring more than 2.5 yards (just less than 2.5 meters) tall and around eight meters long, that skeleton was sold at a New York auction for $1.05 million in May 2012.

But it was seized the following month after Mongolian authorities intervened. The skeleton was returned to Mongolia in May 2013 and its Florida-based importer, Eric Prokopi, was sentenced to three months in prison in June 2014.



© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse










Today's News

December 23, 2015

The Musée des Arts Forains in Paris: Between cultural heritage and entertainment

Actor Nicolas Cage returns $276,000 stolen Mongolian dinosaur skull to authorities

'Silent Night': From village ditty sung by ship labourers and their families to global Christmas hit

The Frans Hals Museum exhibits a divine discovery in a work by Jan van Scorel

Exhibition at Mart explores over a century of history of Italian and international art

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to become part of Tufts University

Tokyo selects Japanese design by architect Kengo Kuma for 2020 Olympic stadium after cost row

Antiques, art from Southern California estates featured in Don Presley's Jan. 1-2 New Year's Auction

Holiday "Surprises" at Bertoia's $1.8M auction included a sold-out auction catalog

Daniel Bomberg's 16th-century printing of the Talmud sells for $9.3 million at Sotheby's New York

Suspected Nazi Loot? Stories behind the pictures: Provenance research at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

Vancouver Art Gallery acquires major artworks by Geoffrey Farmer, Reena Saini Kallat, Sonny Assu and more

"Hamburg in the Twenties: Views and Visions" on view at Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg

Sylvester Stallone fans make knock out "Rocky" and "Rambo" auction bids

Arena 1 Gallery opens "Inside the White Cube: The Gallery as Context"

The 2015 William H. Johnson Foundation Prize goes to Nicole Miller

Steven Kasher Gallery releases new video, first in series: Thomas Roma: In the Vale of Cashmere

Sotheby's New York December Auctions of Important Design & Tiffany total $17.1 million

Milwaukee Art Museum opens unprecedented Photography and Media Arts Gallery

Sotheby's announces a lifestyle auction featuring modern and contemporary art, design furniture

RM group of companies reaches new heights in 2015 with market-leading $593 million in sales

Jonathan Canning named new Curator of The Hyde Collection

A Year in Review: Auction records and technological advances confirm Auctionata's market leadership

We May Have Met Before: Contemporary Chinese photography on view at Foam




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful