Standing Shiva
Standing Shiva is an 11th century Angkor sculpture looted from Thailand, acquired by an American museum, deaccessioned and repatriated in December 2023
Description
[edit]Standing Shiva, is, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “the most complete extant gilded-bronze image from Angor” which may have “served a dual purpose, representing a cult icon for worship in a royal sanctuary and also acting as an ancestor image of a deceased ruler”.[1] Martin Lerner, who was the Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) from 1972 to 2003, wrote in 1989 that the statue probably depicted a "devaraja", a deified monarch.[2] The work was donated to the museum in 1988 by art collector Walter H. Annenberg who acquired it from Spink & Son Ltd., London, "by 1988"[3][1] The statue was believed to have been smuggled out of the country by Douglas Latchford.[4] The sculpture was damaged when it was looted.[5]
Claim and Repatriation
[edit]The Cambodian government claimed the restitution of the statue, also known as Golden Boy. But ultimately the Metropolitan Museum of Art restituted it to Thailand, which also claimed it.[6] The restituted items arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport on May 20, 2024 to be displayed at the National Museum, Phra Nakhon District.[5] in 2024 the Thai government signed an agreement with the Metropolitan Museum.[3][7][8]
See also
[edit]Reference
[edit]- ^ a b Standing Shiva (?), retrieved 2025-02-11
- ^ "Golden Boy goes home". Apollo Magazine. 2024-05-20. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
Martin Lerner, the former curator at the Met who suggested, in the museum's Fall 1989 acquisitions bulletin, that the figure likely depicts a devaraja, or deified monarch, perhaps the Khmer king Jayavarman VI, 'whose accession took place in 1080'.
- ^ a b "Met Museum signs cultural-property agreement with Thailand and returns two statues". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2024-04-26. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
- ^ Ho, Karen K. (2024-05-21). "Thailand Celebrates Return of 11th Century Sculptures Repatriated by the Met Museum". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
According to the AFP, Standing Shiva is also known as "Golden Boy" and the bronze object was discovered near the Cambodian border during an archaeological dig more than 50 years ago. The 51-inch statue was believed to have been smuggled out of the country by Latchford in 1975.
- ^ a b English, Khaosod (2024-05-20). "Discoverer of 'Golden Boy' Regrets Damage to Historic Sculpture". Retrieved 2025-02-11.
- ^ Crosbie-Jones, Max (2024-05-20). "Golden Boy goes home". Apollo Magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
When, last December, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced its plan to deaccession 16 Angkorian sculptures, Cambodians and Cambodia watchers were overjoyed, although not altogether surprised. In its press release, the Met said that the pieces were 'known by the Museum to be associated with the dealer Douglas Latchford'. Some form of action had been anticipated for some time and certainly since August 2022 when the New York Times had published a report outlining the country's claims to more than a dozen artefacts in Gallery 249, and citing as compelling evidence the recollections of looters and emails handed over by Latchford's daughter after the death of the disgraced art dealer in 2020. There was, however, one startling aspect of the Met's announcement: a gilded-bronze statue listed on its website as a 'Standing Shiva (?)', once described as Cambodian until recently, would be going to Thailand instead.
- ^ "Met to Return Looted Treasures to Cambodia, Thailand". Artforum. 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
- ^ "Returned 'Golden Boy' statue to arrive in Bangkok today". nationthailand. 2024-05-20. Retrieved 2025-02-11.