The English term, “antiquity”, is derived from the Latin word “antiques” or from “antico” in Italian, which referred originally to the decorative items found in ancient Roman remains, that have captured the imagination of English art collectors in the last few centuries. They became collectors’ items, even if they were limbless or damaged, and were displayed in drawing rooms and formal gardens as decorative accessories, to become a status symbol of a well-travelled and well-read person.
In India, a statue of a deity that is broken or damaged is considered inauspicious and is given to the river to carry away. This is the difference of cultures and their notions of life and death, continuity and change.
As a follow-up to the UNESCO convention of 1970 on the “Means of Prohibiting and Preventing Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property”, the Indian Parliament passed the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972. Section 1(1)(a) of this act provides an elaborate definition of antiquity: i) any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraphy or other work of art or craft; ii) any article, object or thing detached from a building or cave; iii) any article, object, or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customs, morals, or politics in bygone days; iv) any article, object or thing of historical importance; v) any article, object or thing declared by the Central government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be an antiquity for the purposes of this act, which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years; and vi) any manuscript, record or other document which is of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value and which has been in existence for not less than 75 years — is deemed to be an antiquity.
The ambiguity of the Indian Antiquities and Art Treasure Act of 1972 definition of an antiquity lies in the sentence “no less than 100 years”. And in section 24 of this act, only the director general of the Archaeological Survey of India holds the final decision in declaring an object an antiquity (with an appointed committee, of course).
Nice, round age
This definition suggests that every year, millions of objects get added to this list of antiquities. A telescope made in 1903 was not an antique two weeks ago but in 2004 — in a matter of a day — it will be an antique and you are obliged by the act to register it as such with the ASI headquarters in Delhi. Why is an antique not 150 years old or 50 years old, or is 100 years a nice, round, arbitrary number?
In Kenya, for example, an antiquity is defined as “an object of archaeological or paleontological interest…which comes into existence in or after the year of 1800”. Why 1800 you may ask?
The Islamic republic of Pakistan passed an antiquities act in 1975 (act VII of 1976), which repealed earlier acts and redefined an antiquity as “any ancient object” and “ancient means belonging or relating to any period prior to May 1857, it includes any ancient product of human activity, movable or immovable”, etc. What I love is the exact dating of an antique — made before May 1857. What happens if it is June 1857 or painted by an artist between April and July 1857?
Our Indian act came into force on April 5, 1976 and while amendments will someday be made by someone who actually reads the law and clarifies its ambiguities, we need to follow the law that specifies the “compulsory registration of notified categories of antiquities”. Forms are available in triplicate from ASI. So if you can figure out if your legacy from your grandparents is of historic value and “not less than 100 years old”, please register it as soon as possible — we don’t want anyone to break the law, even if we can’t understand it.
