A Change of Guard

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Thursday 12 April 2012

Cambodia reclaims Khmer statue


New York,
11 April 2012,
Art Media Agency (AMA).

The Duryodhana, a 10th century statue of a mythological Hindu warrior, is at the heart of an investigation involving Sotheby’s auction house in New York. The prestigious company is suspected to have attempted to put the piece up for auction in the beginning of 2011, oblivious to its alleged theft from a Cambodian Hindu temple several decades ago.

In February 2011, the Khmer antiquity, measuring 1.5 meters with an estimated value of between 2 and 3 million dollars, had been taken off the auction block at the last minute following a claim by the Cambodian government. Sotheby’s had accepted this retreat, but had kept the piece in conservation, contesting the hypothesis regarding its theft during the politically unstable years of the 1960s in Cambodia. Investigations lead by New York prosecutor Preet Bharara seem to accredit the claim that not only was the work in fact stolen, but that certain directors at Sotheby’s had ignored this fact when giving the go-ahead for the auction.
According to The New York Times’ website, research done by French archeologist Eric Bourdonneau serve as proof as to the statue’s presence in the Prasat Chen temple of Koh Ker in the 60s. The statue’s feet can still be found on the pedestal in the temple. In addition, Emma C. Bunker, the expert who created the catalogue for Sotheby’s had at the time, informed the auction house that the Cambodian government considered this statue as stolen.

These facts have moved Federal agents to officially pursue Sotheby’s and to force the company to give back the statue. Sotheby’s announces its disappointment, as an agreement had existed between the Cambodian government, the prosecution office, and the auction house, that no legal procedures would be initiated as long as negotiations were in process.

The owners are the heirs of a Belgian collector of ancient art who had purchased the antiquity in a British auction in 1975. According to The New York Times‘ website, one proposed solution by Cambodia was to negotiate a purchase by Hungarian collector of the statue for $1 million. The collector would have then given the statue to Cambodia as a good-will gesture. This amicable solution however did not come to fruition.

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