Object Description
Four Marble Oscilla
Four Marble Roman double-sided disks, suspended on chains between columns in gardens, depicting maenads, satyrs and the Pan. They are dated between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D.
Identification Date
06 Sep 2018
Identification Location
Private collection of Michael Steinhardt, Manhattan, New York.
Artefact History
Before 1992
Five Polaroid and regular-print images from the archive confiscated from the antiquities dealer Giacomo Medici. The oscilla are depicted unrestored and covered with soil.
1992
The four oscilla were purchased by Michael Steinhardt from Robin Symes and Christos Michaelides, with no prior provenance, for $175,000.
1998
Steinhardt sent the Marble oscilla to a Brooklyn-based restorer for “cleaning and repair.”
06 Sep 2018
The first three Oscilla were identified on September 6, 2018 by Tsirogiannis, on the request of the Manhattan DA’s Office, using five (5) Polaroid and regular-print images from the archive confiscated from the antiquities dealer Giacomo Medici.
15 Jun 2021
The fourth oscillum was identified by Tsirogiannis, again on the request of the Manhattan DA’s Office, on June 15, 2021, using a detail in one of the five Medici images.
December 2021
On December 2021, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced that the four oscilla will be repatriated to Italy.
Artefact Status
February 2022
Repatriation took place in February 2022.