U.S. Returns Significant Collection Of Antiquities To Cambodia

The collection includes statues dating to the 10^th and 12^th centuries that were originally looted from religious and archeological sites in Cambodia.  The antiquities were turned over to Cambodia on September 11, 2023, and a ceremony celebrating their repatriation will be held in Cambodia at a later date.  The Lindemann family has voluntarily agreed to return the antiquities.

The antiquities returned to Cambodia include a monumental 10^th century statue of Dhrishtadyumna, stolen from Prasat Chen in Koh Ker, the ancient capital of the Khmer kingdom; statues stolen from Prasat Krachap in Koh Ker, including a 10^th century sculpture depicting Ardhanarishvara (half-male, half-female deity) and a 10^th century Anantashayana Vishnu (reclining Vishnu with Lakshmi); as well as six heads of devas (angels) and asuras (demons) removed from the gates to Angkor Thom in the Angkor Wat complex; and a kneeling figure from Banteay Srei, a 10^th century temple in Angkor Wat.

Since 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), has successfully investigated, identified, and repatriated 65 stolen and illegally imported Cambodian antiquities in the possession of individuals and institutions in the United States.  In 2019, the art dealer Douglas Latchford was indicted in the Southern District of New York with wire fraud conspiracy and other crimes related to a multi-year scheme to sell looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market.  The Indictment was later dismissed due to Latchford’s death.

The history of Koh Ker and the illicit trafficking in Cambodian cultural patrimony is described in prior forfeiture actions filed in the Southern District of New York, including United States v. A Late 12^th Century Khmer Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Standing Prajnaparamita, et al., 21 Civ. 9217, and United States v. A Late 12^th Century Bayon-Style Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Eight-Armed Avalokiteshvara, 22 Civ. 229.  The statue of Dhrishtadyumna was looted from same temple site as the sculpture of Duryodhana, repatriated in 2014, which was the subject of the forfeiture action United States v. A 10^th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture, 12 Civ. 2600.  Dhrishtadyumna and Duryodana are figures from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.  The Ardhanarishvara and the Anantashayana Vishnu were looted from the same temple site as the Skanda on a Peacock sculpture, repatriated in 2022, which was the subject of the forfeiture action United States v. A 10^th Century Cambodian Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Skanda on a Peacock, 21 Civ. 6065.

Image : Three of the Angkor Thom Heads