This volume examines the developments in Greek vase collecting and trading since World War II. The author employs two approaches to the subject: case studies of eight major museum collections, and an analysis of auction catalogues and dealer publications listing 18,000 Greek vases between 1954 and 1998. A detailed historical narrative, beginning with the early Renaissance, provides a helpful introduction to the field. A major scholarly shift in the 1960s broadened the gap between the collections held in museums, which adopted the new contextual approach, and the collections of private individuals who still favoured an aesthetic approach. The growing curatorial emphasis on context also lent weight to emerging ethical concerns, as the relation between unprovenanced objects and the destruction of archaeological sites became an international issue.