The Republic of Turkey v. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
762 F. Supp. 44 (1990)
- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) (defendant) purchased more than 300 artifacts from New York dealers between 1965 and 1970, paying approximately $1.5 million in total. MMA did not disclose its possession of the artifacts until 1984, when it displayed some of them in an exhibit referring to the items as East Greek treasure. In 1987, the Republic of Turkey (plaintiff) sued MMA, claiming that the artifacts were excavated from Turkey in 1966 and shipped to the United States in contravention of Turkish law and that Turkey owned the items. MMA filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that the three-year statute of limitations to sue to recover chattel barred Turkey’s claim because MMA had had the items for nearly 20 years and Turkey failed to exercise its duty of reasonable diligence to locate the items within the limitations period. MMA also argued that it would be prejudiced by Turkey’s alleged delay in filing suit due to lost documents and absent witnesses. Turkey disputed that claim.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Broderick, J.)
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