Mexico seeks to halt Paris sale

Published on 22/03/2013 00:00

MEXICO has demanded Sotheby’s halts the planned sale in Paris of 51 pre-Columbian artefacts, saying they are national treasures.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History said Mexico has asked the French government to help head off the auction scheduled for today and Saturday. It also implied some of the artefacts in the 300-piece Barbier-Mueller Collection of Pre-Columbian Art are fakes. “Of the 130 objects advertised as being from Mexico, 51 are archaeological artefacts and national property, and the rest are handicrafts,” the institute said.