Ittai Gradel, the Danish gems specialist and art dealer who uncovered that some 2,000 objects had been stolen from the British Museum’s collection, died on April 28 at age 61. BBC News reported that he died of renal cancer shortly after receiving a medal from the museum in honor of what its director, Nicholas Cullinan, called his “very significant contribution.”
Initially dismissed by the museum, Gradel’s investigation made international headlines and ultimately led to the resignation of then-director Hartwig Fischer in 2023. An expert in engraved gems of the Greco-Roman world, he alerted the British Museum in 2021 to what he believed were precious objects from its collection being sold on eBay. He identified senior curator Peter Higgs as the suspected culprit, including in a 1,600-word missive describing a Roman cameo he had spotted for auction online, alongside other ancient artifacts.
His concerns seemingly ignored, Gradel wrote to the British Museum again in October 2022 with suspicions of theft. His message was reportedly passed on to George Osborne, who had recently been appointed as the museum’s chairperson. However Gradel was shortly dismissed as having “no evidence to substantiate the allegations.” According to a museum spokesperson, a “thorough investigation” had found “no suggestion of any wrongdoing”—only for the British Museum to report to the police the following January that an inventory of its collection had found hundreds of objects missing or damaged, mostly from ancient Greece. A formal police investigation was opened.
Subsequent reports in British media outlets estimated that more than 1,500 items were involved in the scheme, with one artifact worth $64,000 listed on eBay for just $51. Higgs was dismissed in July 2023 and a month later the British Museum confirmed for the first time that a theft had taken place. Higgs has denied any wrongdoing. Police inquiries are ongoing, but so far nobody has been arrested or charged.
In August 2023, Fischer resigned as director, saying that the British Museum “did not respond as comprehensively as it should have in response to the warnings in 2021.” Fischer added that he had “misjudged the remarks” he previously made about Gradel, expressing regret and publicly withdrawing his criticism.
Cullinan, who was appointed as Hartwig’s successor in Marhc 2024, is currently leading efforts to recover the stolen artifacts. Earlier this month Cullinan presented Gradel with a rare British Museum award: “In recognition of your expertise and of your passionate determination that wrongs should be righted.”
