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Boston museum settles dispute with Jewish family over Nazi-era art sales

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has settled a legal dispute with the estate of a Jewish woman whose collection of porcelain figurines was sold in Germany amid Nazi persecution.

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has settled a legal dispute with the estate of a Jewish woman whose collection of 18th-century porcelain figurines was sold in Germany in the late 1930s amid Nazi persecution of Jews.

Under terms of the agreement, the museum will pay the estate of Emma Budge an undisclosed sum to retain the pieces.

The seven figurines, which depict Italian commedia dell’arte characters, were auctioned after Budge’s death in 1937. The proceeds were sent to the estate’s account at the M.M. Warburg Bank in Hamburg, but then the Warburg bank was subsequently “aryanized” — sold to non-Jewish owners. The family was never able to enjoy the proceeds.

Some of Budge’s heirs, who were also Jewish, fled the country, while those who remained faced Nazi persecution.

The figurines were bequeathed to the museum in 2006s part of a larger gift from Edward and Kiyi Pflueger, who acquired the figures from the collection of Otto and Magdalena Blohm, who purchased them during the 1937 auction.

Victoria Reed, the museum’s curator of provenance, told The Boston Globe that because of Nazi persecution Budge’s heirs likely never saw proceeds of the sale and the museum had an obligation to make up for that injustice.

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Reed noted that they were unable to ascertain whether the collection was sold under Nazi duress, and said they were focusing on ensuring that the heirs were properly compensated.

A lawyer for Budge’s estate says the heirs are happy with the resolution.

“Emma Budge . . . wanted these items to be sold outside Germany for the benefit of her heirs,” he told the Globe. “It is heartwarming to see her wish finally come true after 80 years.”

Many Jewish families who lost family heirlooms due to Nazi persecution have been fighting to reclaim ownership of the assets, which are currently held by museums and other institutions around the world.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff