Crime

Stolen 262-year-old artifact recovered by FBI, returned to Dearborn museum

January 16, 2019, 7:55 AM
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The powder horn (Photos: Bill McGraw)

The repatriation of stolen or looted artifacts is a hot issue in the museum world, and this week, Metro Detroit had a case here at home, when a 262-year-old powder horn stolen from the Dearborn Historical Museum in 1952 was returned -- by the FBI. 

The Detroit Free Press reports:

The artifact, a powder horn on loan from the Detroit Historical Society, went missing in 1952 just before the opening of an exhibit entitled "Saga of a Settler." The piece is significant to Dearborn's history because it belonged to John Nowlin, one of the earliest settlers of "Dearbornville," now part of the city of Dearborn.

...The powder horn, which was recovered by the FBI's Art Crime Team in Philadelphia, was returned to the historical museum Tuesday at a news conference. FBI Special Agent Jack Archer said the powder horn was used in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.


FBI Special Agent Jake Archer, left, and Dearborn Police detective Stanley Kulikowski stand with the purloined powder horn.

The powder horn was sold for $13,000 at a Christie's auction to an unknown buyer in 1991, the report said. The FBI's Art Crime Team -- which is a movie waiting to be made, in our opinion, or maybe a TV series -- found it as it was about to be sold again. The owner did not realize it had been stolen. Dearborn Police asked for the feds' assistance after the director of the Dearborn museum asked them to look into the theft. 

'"It's not a cold case, it's not a cool case, but a frigid case,"' Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad told reporters at a press conference Tuesday. But detective work cracked it, and the powder horn will go on display at the Detroit Historical Museum, its original owner, then go into a permanent display there. 

In 2009, a Detroit Police dive team found a bronze statue that had been stolen from the Grosse Pointe War Memorial gardens eight years earlier. That piece was restored and returned to display -- indoors. 


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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