Complaint Review: Sadigh Gallery and Ancient Art - Internet

I am a former museum curator, trustee, and emeritus trustee and have been on archaeological digs and involved with antiquities since the early 1960s.

I have provided expert work regarding artifacts brought in for decades. I also have known Merdid (aka Michael), his father and Joel Malter who employed Meridid in the 1980s.

He has sold fakes misrepresented as genuine. His catalogue is loaded with obvious fakes represented as genuine. 

This is no secret in the antiquities community. One can read in the ancientartifacts yahoogroup  in detail from a large number of individuals regarding this business.

I have  purchased many different things from the Sadigh Gallery over the years.

Everything arrived as ordered in record time and as I live in Hawaii--its not always the case for haha something basic.My things took only a few days each time Specifically a lot of Egyptian things--they were not only beautiful but besides the specific energy of different pieces- a few were precious or semi precious materials that I could only have  had duplicated and not as well as  the craftsmanship received --at thousands of dollars higher cost.

As others have noted-other individuals not satisfied  received refunds  right away. I'm sure  because of the volume in sales some things may have  slipped thru--it is a complicated  business to ascertain age on a lot of objects--I know  having been an art dealer representing known works of art with traceable lineage and ownership--there are so many things to know and check.Also because someone has an Appraisers title or license doesnt make them the last word.I have dealt personally with acclaimed people who work with museums who were complete nimnuts about things supposedly within their realm of experience. 

  Would lke to reccomend if you arent happy --send it back.

I am glad they are  still in business and  hope to purchase a number of things  in a few categories from them very soon.

What rubbish! Take virtually anything bought from Sadigh to a genuine expert at a legitimate museum or university ancient history or archaeology department for a real evaluation - and you will invriably be told that what you have is pure, valueless rubbish.

The rebuttal is extremely disingenuous.

Please explain the rather obvious conclusions one can come to from such as here:

http://pinterest.com/SADIGHFRAUD/sadigh-fraud/

×

1 / 3

2 / 3

3 / 3

4 / 3

❮ ❯

No, this is not negative advertising, but a genune and justified protest over dishonest marketing of fakes.
I am a serious collector of Mediterranean antiquities and have looked through the Sadigh catalog with a very careful eye, comparing items there with those to be found in the major publications, museum catalogs and archeological reports (I have quite an extensive library from which to work) and can safely say that at least 90% of the items sold by Sadigh from the Mediterranean area (I am not knowledgable on African and Far Eastern art and antiquities) are modern-made reproductions, poor quality fakes and souvenirs and, in some cases, not even copies but fantasy pieces little related to to any authentic artifact.
As they are all offered as garanteed genuine antiquities, at very high prices, I agree that this is a fraudulent operation and that it should be brought to the attention of the public as such.

I have purchased a number of Items from Sadigh. I got a piece of amber which was definitely plastic. I sent it back and received a refund. I don't know how they didn't notice this.
But my main concern is almost all the items I purchased are still listed as available years later which makes me wonder if these are all copies and therefore fakes.

I've purchased several items from Sadigh and had them appraised after I saw these reports.

The expert (museum curator) appraised them at the same value (some more some less) than what I paid. If everything they sell is fakes, how would they be in business for so long and maintain an "A" rating with the well respected Better Business Bureau? When I'm not sure about a business, I check there rather than rely on online communities that are full of B.S.

 i purchased what i was led to believe was a pre columbian relic and while i thought it was awfully inexpensive for such an item i believed it to be real.then a friend and antique dealer said otherwise.i took it to another dealer who told me it was meant to look old but it wasnt old.that it the point of my letter it can be proven that even an art dealer can be fooled.michael sadigh the owner of the gallery heard my complaint was very apologetic and refunded me in full.if you think they made an error call them and they will fix the problem 

I am contacting from Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art, Inc. This posting has been brought to our attention, and as it is false and is misleading to viewers, we are filing a rebuttal against this claim.

We are a small family-ran company that has been in business for over 30 years in New York City, with a proper license. Our gallery door is open to public. Up to this day, we have never had any customers who came to sue or complain about the products we deal. If customers are unsatisified in our products in anyway, we offer full return and refund policy.

During summer of 2010, we suddenly started to encounter problem online where anonymous individuals are posting negative information about our business without proper evidence. They have posted false information about our company history, taken images and articles without permission, and made various websites focusing on performing negative marketingagainst our business.When we tracked on of the postings, we discovered that the source came from one of our business competitors.

Most of the negative information about us on internet, including this report,is formofbusiness defamation and negative marketing by competitors. This sort of work is highly misleading andnottorelable.