Amsterdam:The Allard Pierson Archaeology Museum has returned an ancient vase to Sicily following a provenance investigation. The Centuripe pyxis, a third-century B.C. vessel depicting a wedding scene with the Greek god Apollo, had been in the museum's collection for almost 30 years.

According to Anadolu Agency, the museum acquired the vase from a Swiss dealer at the Tefaf art fair in Maastricht in 1997, lacking provenance documents and an export license. The dealer claimed it had been privately owned in Switzerland since before 1970. However, a roll of film found by Sicilian researchers in 2016 showed the vase among artifacts connected to grave robbers in Centuripe, Sicily, alongside a 1976 wedding photograph, challenging the Swiss ownership claim.

Rogier Kalkers, in charge of provenance research at the museum, stated that despite the lack of legal obligation for restitution due to non-retroactive Dutch laws from 2009, the museum chose to act responsibly. Kalkers noted the complexities faced by museums, collectors, and dealers over the past forty years and expressed the museum's intention to distance itself from such issues.

The handover was attended by an Italian delegation, including Sicily's heritage minister, Carabinieri officers, and an Italian Embassy representative. Kalkers emphasized that this event marks the beginning of collaborative follow-up research.