Metropolitan Museum of Art Repatriates Two Khmer Sculptures to Cambodia

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has repatriated two sandstone sculptures in its collection to the people of Cambodia: an Angkor period guardian deity (rākṣasa), dating to c. 921-945, and a lintel featuring a carving of an anthropomorphic dragon from the mid-7th century.

The returns, which were reported by both the Met and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, follow on D.A. Alvin Bragg’s ongoing investigation into Doris Wiener, a New York gallery dealer and known trafficker who died in 1981, and her daughter Nancy Wiener, who in 2021 pled guilty to her own role in trafficking looted artifacts.

Today’s announcement follows the Met’s return of 14 sculptures to the Kingdom of Cambodia in 2023, following an investigation into the dealer Douglas Latchford. The Met has a long history of partnering with Cambodia, including the major international exhibition “Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia” in 2014, which featured major loans from Cambodia’s national museums. The Met has also worked with Cambodia on prior repatriations: in 2013, the Met voluntarily returned to Cambodia two objects known as the “Koh Ker Kneeling Attendants,” which were also associated with Douglas Latchford.

The Met repatriated looted objects to Cambodia in 2013 and 2023, after investigations into Latchford, a British-Thai businessman indicted by federal prosecutors for alleged antiquities trafficking before his death in 2020.

The statue of the guardian deity, or rākṣasa, once flanked the entrance of the Prasat Chen temple at Koh Ker, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Cambodia, where its feet and pedestal are still visible. Representing a fierce mythical demon or gatekeeper, the bulky figure would have warded off evil and protected the temple’s sacred space. Koh Ker was extensively looted in the 1970s, and at least a dozen such sculptures were smuggled out of Cambodia and sold by Latchford. The statue was sold to Doris Wiener in 1972; in 1987, she gifted it to the Met, where it remained on display until this year, when it was seized by the DA’s office.

The two sculptures were formally transferred to the Kingdom of Cambodia at a ceremony yesterday, along with a third sandstone sculpture depicting the head of the Hindu deity Harihara.

“These sculptures have been in New York City illegally for decades, and thanks to the work of our prosecutors, analysts and investigators, they are finally being returned to Cambodia,” said D.A. Bragg.

“The Met is committed to the responsible collecting of art and the shared stewardship of the world’s cultural heritage,” said Max Hollein, the Met’s Director and Chief Executive Officer. “As part of this effort, the Museum has significantly expanded its provenance research work and continues the proactive review of its collection. We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with colleagues in Cambodia and for the constructive engagement with the authorities and experts whose work helped clarify the histories of these objects.”

The D.A.’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit has now convicted 18 individuals of cultural-property-related crimes; recovered more than 6,350 cultural treasures, including rare books, works of art, and antiquities, valued at more than $490 million; and returned almost 6,000 of those so far to 38 countries. The extradition of another seven alleged traffickers is pending.