Jacques ZIEGLER

In 1939, Jacques Ziegler, persecuted by the NS regime as a Jew, was forced to sell his extensive silverware collection in the so-called § 14 deliveries in the Dorotheum for a fraction of its actual value. In 1961, Antoinette Ziegler tried to locate the 66 silver objects from Jacques Ziegler’s possessions. The Dorotheum informed her that the main portion of the objects had been auctioned off, but that 9 items were missing. She was advised to turn to the MAK, where the objects in question might possibly be kept. Only after repeated inquiries, Antoinette Ziegler was informed by the MAK in 1962 that two objects had indeed been purchased from the Dorotheum consignment: a lidded jar and a large lidded tankard; the latter had been bartered away again in 1943. The museum claimed to have no information about any of the other items. In 1963, Antoinette Ziegler again contacted the MAK, but did not receive any further information.
 
In the course of the current provenance research, two objects could be identified as belonging to the Ziegler collection. On 3 December 2002, the Advisory Board recommended the restitution of these objects; they were returned on 16 September 2003.