In a significant repatriation move, Italy's National Roman Museum has returned an exquisite ivory figurine dating back to the 1st Century CE to the Indian government. The artifact, identified as a Satavahana-era masterpiece, was discovered in Pompeii during the 1930s and was long considered a symbol of early maritime trade between the Deccan and the Roman Empire.
The figurine, depicting a woman with elaborate jewelry and traditional attire, provides crucial evidence of the high level of Indian craftsmanship exported to the West during the Indo-Roman trade boom. The artifact will be housed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai after a formal welcoming ceremony that marks a new chapter in Indo-Italian cultural cooperation.