Ohio museum to return possibly looted jug to Italy

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — An official says a 2,500-year-old water jug displayed at an Ohio art museum will be sent to Italy after investigators determined it was looted from that country.

Toledo Museum of Art director Brian Kennedy tells The Blade newspaper that returning the 20-inch-tall clay vessel is the right thing to do, though the facility will miss it when it’s shipped to Rome.

Black painting on the orangey clay depicts the Greek tale about Dionysos, the god of wine and drama. The vessel has been on display since 1982, when it was purchased from an antiquities dealer out of Switzerland.

Authorities believe it was probably illegally excavated in Italy, smuggled to Switzerland and given a forged record of ownership. It’s among dozens of Italian objects in an investigation dating to 1995.