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Friday, 26th January 2007 (2201 views)

Christie's auction house in London went ahead with the sale of hundreds of Greek antiques this week despite concerns from Greek authorities that the items had been illegally exported from their country.

The antiques, which once belonged to King George I of Greece, sold for $18.4 million in total during the two-day auction on January 24th and 25th in London. A gold Faberge egg sold for $546,680.

The Greek government had asked Christie's to call off the auction, demanding proof of the origin of all 850 items. But the auction house said in a statement that all the items had been obtained legally and that it saw "no reason for the sale not to go ahead as planned".

Prior to the auction Greek culture minister Giorgos Voulgarakis issued a stark warning to potential buyers of the treasures, insisting: "If someone buys something that proves to be illegal, the state will turn both against Christie's and the buyer."

But the warning failed to put off those attending and the heirlooms raised six times their pre-sale estimate. Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, is believed to have been among the bidders.

 

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