'Golden Boy' to be returned to Thailand

[reader]

From Thai PBS World

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, or The MET, has agreed to return two artefacts, including a bronze statue of Lord Shiva, known as the “Golden Boy”, which were smuggled out of Thailand over 50 years ago.

Culture Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said on Sunday that a representative of The MET spoke with the director-general of the Fine Arts Department, Phanombut Chantarachot, last Sunday, to hand over a letter from the MET’s director, informing the Thai government of the return of the two ancient sculptures.

The “Golden Boy” statue was discovered in Ban Yang, in the Lahan Sai district of Buri Ram, near the Cambodian border, during an archaeological dig at Prasat Ban Yang ruins over 50 years ago.

The other bronze sculpture, about 900 years old and 43cm tall, features a female figure in a kneeling position, with one knee on the floor and the other straightening up, and two hands above the head in a “wai” posture. The sculpture bears traces of being decorated with silver and gold ornaments

Minister Sermsak said The MET has checked the origin of the two statues and found that they were connected with Douglas Latchford, an American antique trader, who was indicted by the New York attorney’s office for illegal trading of antiques in 2019 and 2021, prompting The MET’s board to remove the two statues from the museum’s inventory.

The two statues will be handed over to the office of the Thai consul-general in New York.

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, reader said:

From Thai PBS World

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, or The MET, has agreed to return two artefacts, including a bronze statue of Lord Shiva, known as the “Golden Boy”, which were smuggled out of Thailand over 50 years ago.

Culture Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said on Sunday that a representative of The MET spoke with the director-general of the Fine Arts Department, Phanombut Chantarachot, last Sunday, to hand over a letter from the MET’s director, informing the Thai government of the return of the two ancient sculptures.

The “Golden Boy” statue was discovered in Ban Yang, in the Lahan Sai district of Buri Ram, near the Cambodian border, during an archaeological dig at Prasat Ban Yang ruins over 50 years ago.

The other bronze sculpture, about 900 years old and 43cm tall, features a female figure in a kneeling position, with one knee on the floor and the other straightening up, and two hands above the head in a “wai” posture. The sculpture bears traces of being decorated with silver and gold ornaments

Minister Sermsak said The MET has checked the origin of the two statues and found that they were connected with Douglas Latchford, an American antique trader, who was indicted by the New York attorney’s office for illegal trading of antiques in 2019 and 2021, prompting The MET’s board to remove the two statues from the museum’s inventory.

The two statues will be handed over to the office of the Thai consul-general in New York.

First of many?

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

First of many?

one hopes

[unicorn]

The Met museum was shamed in the December 17th issue of 60 Minutes by Anderson Cooper. However, I would ask the OP not to further defame the United States. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Latchford

"Douglas Arthur Joseph Latchford (15 October 1931 – 2 August 2020) was a British art dealer and smuggler... 

Latchford was born on 15 October 1931 in Mumbai, India, which was at the time under the British Raj. He was educated at Brighton College in England before returning to India shortly before Independence. Latchford initially worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Mumbai. He moved to Bangkok in 1956, and in 1963 established a drug distribution company. Latchford also invested profitably in Thailand land development and became a Thai citizen in 1968. He was briefly married to a Thai woman and took a Thai name, Pakpong Kriangsak. A long-time devotee of the sport of bodybuilding, Latchford became a patron of the sport in Thailand and was the honorary president of the Thai Bodybuilding Association from 2016 until his death...". 

It looks as though he died before he could be brought to justice. 

[Marc in Calif]

18 hours ago, unicorn said:

However, I would ask the OP not to further defame the United States. 

"Douglas Arthur Joseph Latchford (15 October 1931 – 2 August 2020) was a British art dealer and smuggler... 

From the New York Times:

... Beginning in the 1970s, the Met greatly expanded its South and Southeast Asian galleries, and Mr. Latchford, a dealer and scholar of Khmer antiquities, was integral to that effort.

Starting in 1983, he gave or sold the museum several artifacts directly, among them premiere examples of Khmer sculpture. Many of those were stolen, Cambodian officials asserted. They also said they believed he often sold many other stolen items to other donors and dealers before they ended up at the museum.

Latchford was indicted in 2019 by federal prosecutors in New York, who accused him of trafficking in looted Cambodian relics and of falsifying documents. The indictment was dismissed after Latchford’s death the following year at 88....