We were recently contacted by Randolph J. Deaton of the FBI Art Crime Team. Below is his request. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
The FBI Art Crime Team is trying to locate and recover an historically significant narwhal tusk. The tusk was a gift from polar explorer Robert Edwin Peary to Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville in or about the late 1800s. The tusk may have been presented by Peary's wife Josephine Diebitsch Peary to Melville. The tusk was eventually donated to an institution in Pennsylvania and then stolen from its collection sometime prior to 1980. The tusk is believed to have been sold at an auction of a private estate in Pennsylvania in or about 1981. The whereabouts of this tusk are presently unknown. It could be in a private or public collection. There is no image of the tusk to share, nor is its exact length known. Records from the victim institution confirm that this particular tusk existed and that it had a metal plate attached to it with a very unique inscription. The inscription in part identifies the collection location and expedition date.
If you have any information concerning this particular narwhal tusk, please contact FBI Special Agent and Art Crime Team member Randolph J. Deaton IV of the FBI New Orleans Division at (504) 816-3000.
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Cecelia Walls
Content and Editorial Strategist
American Alliance of Museums
Arlington VA
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