Antiquities Trial Evokes Indiana Jones & 007

Feb. 13, 2002 -- In New York City, a prominent antiquities dealer has been convicted in a case that involves international conspiracies, millions of dollars, and rogue European elites.

It's a case that has riveted anyone who has a connection to artifacts of the ancient world — but for more reasons than just the intriguing details. The plot would have fit perfectly for actor Harrison Ford's character Indiana Jones.

The verdict, many experts say, could impact the entire antiquities industry — and more importantly, declare a victor in one of the eternal struggles in the world of ancient art.

Ovens, Teabags, and a Global Conspiracy

Frederick Schultz, 47, the owner of Frederick Schultz Ancient Art, was convicted Tuesday of dealing in ancient objects in violation of an 1983 Egyptian law that declared all newly discovered antiquities and those still in the ground to be the property of the Egyptian state.

Among the items he was accused of helping to sell is the head of a statue of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which was sold in 1992 for $1.2 million.

According to court documents, Schultz's main co-conspirator was Jonathan Tokeley-Parry, a 50-year-old Englishman who reportedly holds degrees from Cambridge University and University College in London.

Tokeley-Parry, a former cavalry officer, was also the prosecution's star witness.

He was jailed from 1997 to 2000 in a British prison on charges of assisting in the handling of stolen property, and was tried in absentia in Egypt and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Tokeley-Parry testified he smuggled the stone sculpture of the head of Amenhotep III, who died in 1375 B.C., out of Egypt by dipping it in plastic and painting it black to make it look like a cheap tourist souvenir.

Prosecutors said Schultz purchased the head from Tokeley-Parry in 1992 for $915,000. He resold it for $1.2 million to a London art collector.

According to prosecutors, Schultz's method was to give Tokeley-Parry money in exchange for objects that were either stolen or purchased illegally in Egypt.

To give the items a credible provenance, the pair concocted a name, the Thomas Alcock collection, Tokley-Parry said. They allegedly told potential buyers the items came from the estate of an English family that had owned them since the 1920s.

In his correspondence with Schultz, Tokeley-Parry signed his letters James Bond-style, using the numbers 003 or 006. It was a flourish that was appropriate for the amount of intrigue involved in their operation.

One of Tokeley-Parry's techniques to get artifacts out of Egypt was to coat objects with cheap, gaudy materials like plaster, resin or gold paint, to make them look like gift shop souvenirs. He removed the exterior when he got the works back to England.

To make manuscripts in the "Thomas Alcock collection" look as old as they were supposed to be, he says they took old turn-of-the-century labels used by an English pharmaceutical company, enlarged them on a photocopying machine, snipped out the original letters and replaced them with the made-up Thomas Alcock insignia, and then shrank them and printed them on rougher paper.

To further the impression of age, Tokeley-Parry said the labels were baked in an oven and dabbed with used tea bags to discolor them.

Immense Implications?

Schultz could face up to five years in prison. But the effect of his conviction on the antiquities industry, experts say, could be even greater.

Dealers fear it might strengthen the hand of foreign governments in the United States, and encourage them to use U.S. courts to recover their cultural artifacts. They also think it will assert state ownership of objects, in contradiction to Western ideas of private property.

Some even see a political conspiracy, alleging a quid-pro-quo in which the State Department goes after some objects in exchange for cooperation on drug enforcement or for military bases.

But the greatest potential effect could be a change in the tug-of-war between archaeologists and art dealers.

Archaeologists have long condemned art dealers, accusing them of encouraging looters, and ruining any understanding of the past by removing objects from their context — all in the name of profit.

"I think it's a horror when you can see more in the British Museum or in the Louvre than you can see in Egypt," said Philip DiBlasi, staff archaeologist at the University of Louisville.

Dealers have accused archaeologists of being unrealistic, arguing that without the market, many antiquities would be poorly cared for, if not destroyed, by the civilizations they belong to. They accuse archaeologists of no nobler motives than simply trying to preserve their profession.

Christies Inc., the Art Dealers Association of America, and the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental, and Primitive Art, all filed "friend-of-the-court" briefs in favor of Schultz. No dealers or dealer organizations contacted by ABCNEWS.com were willing to comment.

The Archaeological Institute of America and other groups filed their own brief opposing the dealers.

Schultz is scheduled to be sentenced on May 30.