Challenge Over Norton Simon Koh-Ker Statue

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It is pretty clear to most of us that a sheared off 10th-century Khmer sandstone statue that should be standing outside the Prasat Chen temple complex in Koh Ker (some 60 miles northeast of Angkor Wat) in Cambodia should not be on sale in a New York salesroom for two to three million dollars. It is being sold by some Belgian woman 'Ms. Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa', who bought it in 1976 for $900,000 and now has become bored with it and wants it out of her house. The Cambodian government says the work was looted from the temple complex during the country’s political upheavals in the 1970s.

The Cambodians want Ms. Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa's unwanted statue back, but the sellers and the US judiciary are dead against that. The US government tried to seize the object to return it in April 2012, but this was challenged by Sotheby's, questioning any evidence offered by Cambodia and the US government that the statue had been looted and asserting that Cambodian laws did not apply. 

In the case involving the Sotheby’s statue, on Thursday, Judge George B. Daniels cast doubt on whether the government could prevail in its effort to seize the work, based on the filings it has made. “This isn’t the strongest case of knowledge of stolen property and ownership by clear and unambiguous language,” Judge Daniels said. He said the government had “significant hurdles to overcome,” and that he would rule in 30 to 60 days on a motion by Sotheby’s lawyers to dismiss the case.

One of the hurdles raised in the court case of the Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa statue is (as Sotheby’s lawyer, Peter G. Neiman, pointed out) is that Cambodia had never previously sought the return of the twin sheared-off statue in the Pasadena museum housing the Norton Simon collection. This has been on display since 1980, and although Cambodian authorities have long known it was there, they had not sought its return until now. The object had been purchased in September 1976 from the New York dealer William H. Wolff. Sotheby's lawyer cited a letter which he had obtained (presumably) from the Californian museum  in which a Cambodian official asserted that the work “now belongs to the Norton Simon”, and on that basis demands the dismissal of the claims on the Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa statue (implying that there was no difference between a privately owned item coming onto the commercial market, and one already in a museum collection).

Since this has been cited as a reason not to get the Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa statue returned, the Cambodian government has now formally asked the United States to help it recover the  Norton Simon statue. This emerged in court on Thursday:

Sarah Paul, a government lawyer, said Cambodia had not relinquished its claim on that statue. “We are investigating before filing a forfeiture complaint,” she said. A second prosecutor, Alexander Wilson, said the government was “continuing to look” into how the Norton Simon obtained the statue.

Ralph Blumental, 'Cambodia Is Seeking 2nd Statue', New York Times September 28, 2012.

Vignette: Koh-Ker Feet (Chasing Aphrodite blog)