The British Museum displayed ten recovered glass gems for the first time.
The gems were put on display at an exhibition called “Rediscovering Gems” for the first time since they were stolen from the British Museum. The exhibition is on from Thursday, 15th / February, until 2nd / June /2024.
Among the tiny items are an ancient gem of green, white and blue banded glass showing the Roman god of wine and pleasure, Bacchus, dating from the 1st Century BC; and one in yellow depicting the Greek god Zeus in eagle form.
The Interim director Sir Mark Jones showed gratitude over the move of recovering and displaying the gems. “Every museum feels a strong sense of responsibility for the objects in its care. Clearly that care was missing. “He said
In August 2023, the museum announced up to 2,000 objects from its storerooms were missing, stolen or damaged, however Sir Mark noted that so far, 356 items have been retrieved from six different sources.
He revealed that the process to recover them was lengthy and complicated. The vast majority of the recovered items came from Danish gemstone dealer Dr Ittai Gradel, who first alerted the museum to the thefts in 2021.
