French auction house Millon denied accusations by the Mexican government that a sale of dozens of pre-Columbian artifacts was illegal and proceeded with an auction on Wednesday. Mexico’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said that 95 of the 120 pieces on auction appear to be from Mexican cultures, including the emblematic pre-Columbian city of Teotihuacan, as well as the Olmeca and Maya cultures. Millon president Alexandre Millon told Reuters on Wednesday that Manichak and Jean Aurance, listed as the owners of the artifacts, satisfied all the legal criteria to justify their ownership of the collection, which they amassed after falling in love with a piece in a Paris gallery in 1963. “The problem for Mexico is that this collection is exemplary in every way: provenance, publications and exhibitions it has featured in. That should make it a positive platform for Mexico”, Millon, said ahead of the auction.
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