The Metropolitan Museum will repatriate 16 Khmer sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand
about 5 months ago (12/15/2023)
The Metropolitan Museum will repatriate 16 Khmer sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Antiquities trafficking news The Metropolitan Museum will repatriate 16 Khmer sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand The museum had been pressured and petitioned for years to return objects tied to smuggler Douglas Latchford Theo Belci 15 December 2023 Share Two antiquities with ties to the late dealer Douglas Latchford—the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease from the tenth or eleventh century (left) and the Head of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion from the tenth century (right)—will be repatriated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art has begun the repatriation process for 16 sculptures previously held in its permanent collection, returning 14 to Cambodia and two to Thailand. The Khmer works, made between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, have been under scrutiny from the Attorney General of the Southern District of New York for their connection to dealer Douglas Latchford , who was indicted in the US for illegal sales of antiquities in 2019 and died in 2020 , before he could stand trial on those charges. Metropolitan Museum of Art Museums face pressure to explain presence of Cambodian relics linked to disgraced dealer Douglas Latchford Vincent Noce The Met has undergone an intensive investigation into the provenance of its objects this year, hiring a research team following spring seizures of illegally obtained works.