New Update on Theft of Chinese Artifacts from The Fitzwilliam

All from BBC News.  Very smart - news, even insignificant seeming, was being released nearly daily and reported by BBC to keep the theft present in the minds of the public.

Some of the beautiful jade objects stolen from the Fitzwilliam,
used several times to illustrate headlines in the BBC News reports/udates.



The white Cadillac van that, despite intensive searches,
has not been found since the date of the Fitzwilliam theft.

April 28, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum £18m theft: Appeal posters and hotline set up

April 30, 2012
Fitzwilliam theft: Museum appeals for return of art

May 1, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum theft: New CCTV images released

May 2, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum Chinese art theft: Two held in London

Detectives investigating the theft of Chinese art from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge have arrested two people.

A 28-year-old man and 15-year-old boy were arrested earlier at addresses in east London by officers from Cambridgeshire and the Metropolitan Police.

A number of other addresses in London are being searched.

May 4, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum steps up security for Chinese art show
(I thought this was rather funny!)

May 8, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum Chinese art theft: Third arrest

A 31-year-old man from London is the third person to be arrested in connection with a burglary at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Police investigating the raid at the museum said the man had been arrested on suspicion of money laundering.

May 9, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum Chinese art theft: Third man bailed
Of note was the increase of the estimated value of the stolen objects: now from between 18-40 million pounds. 

May 11, 2012
Fitzwilliam Museum theft: New CCTV images of white van

That is up to the most recent.  Not much.  The reports are brief, certainly not like U.S. press reports would be on such a sensational crime!  We only know the ages of the arrested suspects, not their names.  Since I did not see an article reporting that the two people (one a minor) arrested on May 2, 2012 have not "been bailed," I assume they are still in custody.  The third person arrested was "bailed" - and what, exactly, does money laundering have to do with these thefts?

Rare Han Dynasty Exhibit at Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge)

This is something I would love to see.  Sigh.  Can't afford a trip to England this year.  Only the first several paragraphs are included here.  some fascinating history is given in the later paragraphs (not copied here) about the Kingdom of Nanyue (modern-day Guangzhou Province) whose capital then is modern-day Canton now and was the terminus/beginning of the maritime Silk Road trade routes. 

University of Cambridge/Research News
The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China
May 5, 2012

In the first exhibition of its kind, the Fitzwilliam Museum will relate the story of the quest for immortality and struggle for imperial legitimacy in ancient China’s Han Dynasty.

The Search for Immortality: Tomb Treasures of Han China (May 5-November 11) will feature over 350 treasures in jade, gold, silver, bronze and ceramics in the largest and most important exhibition of ancient royal treasures ever to travel outside China.

The Han Dynasty established the basis for unified rule of China up to the present day. To maintain this hard-won empire the Han emperors had to engage in a constant struggle for power and legitimacy, with contests that took place on symbolic battlefields as much as on real ones. While written accounts provide an outline of these events, it is through the stunning archaeological discoveries of recent decades that the full drama and spectacle of this critical episode in Chinese history has been brought to life.

Dr Timothy Potts, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, commented: “It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Han Dynasty in the formation of a Chinese national culture and identity. At the time of the ancient Romans, the Han emperors were the first to unify a large part of the regions we now know as China under a sustained empire, which they ruled virtually unchallenged for 400 years.

“The Han Dynasty gave its name to the Chinese language, its script and the vast majority of the Chinese people. It was arguably the defining period of China’s history and the point of genesis for the China of today.

“The spectacular objects in this exhibition bring to Cambridge the finest treasures from the tombs of the Han royal family, the superb goldwork, jades and other exquisitely crafted offerings the kings chose to be buried with on their journey to the afterlife. For their artistry, refinement and pure beauty they rival anything from the ancient world.”

This pioneering exhibition will compare the spectacular tombs of two rival power factions: the Han imperial family in the northern ‘cradle’ of Chinese history, and the Kingdom of Nanyue in the south, whose capital in modern-day Guangzhou formed the gateway to the rich trade routes of the China Sea and Indian Ocean.

Objects from these tombs have never before been displayed together as a single exhibition. Through the exhibition it is revealed how, in both life and in death, Empire and Kingdom played a diplomatic game of cat and mouse, one to assert its supremacy, the other to preserve its autonomy.

Virtual Exhibition.