The Met returns Two Artefacts to Cambodia
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York returned two artefacts to Cambodia this week after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office exposed their links to a smuggling ring.
The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said New York officials will formally hand over the treasures in a ceremony, following a US investigation into illicit antiquities trafficking.
The returned objects include a seventh- or eighth-century sandstone lintel decorated with a kala motif from the pre-Angkorian period, and a tenth-century Angkorian sandstone sculpture of the demon Hiranyakasipu from Prasat Chen at Koh Ker.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit tied both works to a smuggling network run by convicted antiquities dealer Nancy Wiener. The Met agreed to return the pieces after reviewing the evidence.
In a statement, the ministry thanked US authorities, noting that fighting the illicit art trade carries both a legal and moral responsibility.
“The trade in looted cultural property is not only a crime against the source country but a crime under the laws of the State of New York,” the ministry said, praising Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos and the unit’s investigators.
Ministry spokesman Sum Map said Cambodia is tracking more missing cultural property alongside international partners.