Report of the Spoliation Advisory Panel: 3 Meissen Figures in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Report of the Spoliation Advisory Panel in respect of 3 Meissen Figures in the possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum (HC208)
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The Spoliation Advisory Panel has published a report on a claim for the return of 3 Meissen figures, once the property of the art collector, Emma Budge, and now in the possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Panel found that, following the death of Mrs Budge in 1937, her art collection was sold by the Aryanised Jewish auction house of Paul Graupe and her family was deprived of the proceeds of the sale.
The Panel’s recommendation is that the Victoria and Albert Museum should offer to return the figures to the Estate of Mrs Budge, given the circumstances of their loss. However, given that Mrs Budge expressed a wish that, following her death, some or all of her art collection should go to museums in Germany or abroad, the Panel has invited the Executor of the Estate to consider whether it would be appropriate for one of the Meissen figures to remain in the possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The Spoliation Advisory Panel was designated by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport as the Advisory Panel for the purposes of considering the claim under Section 3(2) of the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act 2009. The Panel was established in 2000.