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Case Studies

The case studies provided here are intended to provide examples of ways of dealing with often complex cases and managing relationships with a range of important stakeholders. The headlines and introduction for each case study are included in this page. The full stories are found in Learn More.

Return of Tasmanian Ash Bundles
The passing of the Human Tissue Act in 2004 enabled the Trustees of the British Museum to agree to return two Tasmanian ash bundles to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre on 24th March 2006.

Portrait of a Young Girl Holding a Flower not product of a forced sale
On the 1st of March 2006 the Spoliation Advisory Panel ruled that Portrait of a Young Girl holding a flower, a painting in the possession of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and attributed to Nikolaus Alexander Mair von Landshut, was not the product of a sale forced by the Nazi regime.

Three preserved Maori heads returned to New Zealand
In November 2005 three preserved Maori Heads and a thigh bone were returned to New Zealand by Glasgow City Council in Scotland where they have been held in the World Culture Collections of Glasgow Museums.

Compensation for loss of Griffier's View of Hampton Court Palace
The Holocaust Educational Trust, acting on behalf of a Jewish family whose art collection was sold under duress in Belgium in the early 1940's, made a formal claim for View of Hampton Court Palace, a painting by Jan Griffier.  The painting had been sold at auction in Cologne in 1955 and Tate had acquired it in good faith from a reputable dealer in 1961.