Republic of Turkey v. Christie’s Inc.

In the early 1960s, two American collectors acquired an ancient marble icon that originated in what is now the nation of Turkey (plaintiff). The icon was later acquired by Michael Steinhardt (defendant) and, in 2017, consigned to Christie’s Inc. (defendant) for auction. Turkey became aware of the planned sale and brought an action in federal district court under diversity jurisdiction. New York law applied to claims and defenses, but Turkish law applied to the issue of the property interest in the idol. Turkey sought both to enjoin the sale and to recover the idol, which the country claimed to own pursuant to a 1906 Ottoman decree. The decree provided that monuments and movable antiquities situated within the land of the Ottoman Empire were automatically the property of the Ottoman government. [Editor’s Note: The Republic of Turkey became the successor state of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.] The court allowed the auction to proceed, but ownership of the idol remained a contested issue. Christie’s and Steinhardt challenged Turkey’s claims on statute-of-limitations grounds and asserted that the 1906 decree was unenforceable, in part because it was not adequately translated or publicized in the United States. Turkey presented evidence of other instances in which it recovered antiquities from American museums pursuant to the 1906 decree. Both sides moved for summary judgment on the ownership issue.