Ancient Thai Statues Returned Years After Illegal Trafficking
They have quite a lengthy history.
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to more than one million works of art from nearly every era and corner of the globe. For years, it housed two bronze statues that were illegally trafficked from Thailand by a British collector, but the two ancient sculptures have finally been returned to their proper resting place.
On May 21, Thailand's National Museum in Bangkok hosted a welcome-home ceremony for the "Standing Shiva" or "Golden Boy" statue and a smaller "Kneeling Female" sculpture. Both are believed to be around 1,000 years old. It's the latest instance of repatriation in the art world as many institutions in the U.S. and Europe reckon with the sordid journeys many of the pieces traveled from their regions of origin to the museums' display cases throughout the centuries.
The Met first announced the decision back in December. The two Thai statues are part of a larger return that includes 14 Khmer sculptures from Cambodia. All of these sculptures were linked to the late antiquities collector Douglas Latchford, who was indicted in the U.S. in 2019 for allegedly running a looted Cambodian art scheme and died the following year.
"The Met initiated the return of these two objects after reviewing information and established that the works rightly belonged to the Kingdom of Thailand," the Met's curator of Asian and Southeast Asian art John Guy said at the repatriation ceremony in Bangkok. "[This is] a very meaningful moment to recognize the importance of the art of Thailand in world culture."
"This return followed the launch of the Metropolitan’s Cultural Property Initiative last year, an initiative driven by the Met’s commitment to the responsible collecting of antiquities and to the shared stewardship of the world’s cultural heritage," Guy pointed out. It comes a month after the Met revealed a partnership with the Kingdom of Thailand "to collaborate on exchanges and expertise, and the display and study of Thai art."
Thailand's culture minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol was thrilled to welcome the priceless objects home.
"The artifacts that Thailand received back from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States this time are considered the property of all Thai people," she wrote on X. "It is evidence of the prosperity of the land of Thailand in the past over a thousand years ago, and is classified as an extremely important [piece of] national cultural heritage. It's worth being proud of."
โดยโบราณวัตถุที่ประเทศไทยได้รับคืนจากพิพิธภัณฑ์ศิลปะเมโทรโพลิทัน สหรัฐอเมริกา ครั้งนี้ ถือเป็นสมบัติของประชาชนชาวไทยทุกคน เป็นหลักฐานแสดงถึงความเจริญรุ่งเรืองของดินแดนประเทศไทยในอดีตเมื่อกว่าพันปี และจัดเป็นมรดกทางศิลปวัฒนธรรมที่สำคัญยิ่งของชาติ ควรค่าแก่ความภาคภูมิใจค่ะ pic.twitter.com/5PhFsNMiiQ
— Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol (@SudawanWang) May 21, 2024
If you want to see the statues for yourself—along with countless other gorgeous sculptures and temples—start planning your next trip to Bangkok now.