The Mexican government has filed legal proceedings to stop a Paris auction house from selling 40 pre-Columbian artifacts this week. Officials say the items belong to Mexico's cultural heritage and were illegally removed from the country.
Mexican authorities announced Thursday they are pursuing legal action against a Paris-based auction house to prevent the sale of dozens of ancient artifacts the government claims were illegally taken from the country.
Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel revealed that Mexico has initiated legal proceedings and contacted French officials through diplomatic channels to stop Millon auction house from selling 40 pre-Columbian pieces scheduled for auction Friday.
“The defense of cultural heritage is a responsibility of the state and an act of historical justice,” Curiel stated in a social media post.
The contested items are part of a collection titled “Les Empires de Lumiere” (The Empires of Light) set for an in-person auction in Paris. Millon’s website showed a maintenance message Thursday and the company has not responded to requests for comment.
In a Tuesday letter to the auction house, Curiel explained that Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History had identified the 40 artifacts as protected under Mexican law.
“These goods are property of the Nation, unalienable and incontrovertible, and their export has been banned since 1827, and as such their presence outside the national territory derives from an illicit extraction,” the letter stated.
This legal battle represents part of Mexico’s ongoing efforts to reclaim pre-colonial artifacts from private collections worldwide. While some nations have agreed to return items, many cases remain in lengthy legal disputes.
One notable example involves the ornate feathered headdress believed to have belonged to Aztec ruler Moctezuma before Spanish forces conquered his empire. Austria’s Weltmuseum, which houses the piece, has argued that moving it could harm its fragile quetzal feathers.
Last year, Mexican officials took similar legal action against Millon regarding 83 objects the auction house planned to sell. At that time, Millon defended the sale to ARTnews, stating all items had “irreproachable origin” and met standards established by French law and UNESCO guidelines.
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