Federal Prosecutors File Court Papers in Case For Repatriation of Cambodian Statue

A new development occurred this week in the fight over a priceless Cambodian statue. This past Monday, August 27, federal prosecutors filed court papers on behalf of Cambodia accusing Sotheby's of knowing that the 10th century work--which was to be sold at auction in New York City--"was an important piece of cultural property that had been stolen" from its homeland during the violent upheavals of the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. For previous posts chronicling the story, please see: Global Art Conflict in New York, and Sotheby's Takes Action Against Cambodian Property Claim.

The case began over a year ago, when the Cambodian government asked the United States for help in recovering the thousand year old statue. Experts believed it to be stolen during the bloody rule of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979), a time at which looters took advantage of the chaos to plunder long inaccessible temples and remove priceless antiquities. The statue was to be sold at Sotheby's on March 24, 2011 on behalf of Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa, a Belgian collector who acquired it in 1975 from a London antiquities dealer. Amid allegations, Sotheby's withdrew the statue on the day it was to be sold.

The sandstone masterwork, whose estimated value is $2-$3 million, is five feet tall and weighs 250 pounds. It is one of a pair of warriors in a battle-ready stance from a remote temple complex in Koh Ker. Archaeologists and Cambodian officials have also located the very pedestal and feet of the statue at the site. The statue is approximately 200 years older than the famed sculptures at Angkor Wat, which is 60 miles away.