Smithsonian Museum to Return 3 Bronzes to India

Smithsonian to Return Three Looted Bronzes to Indian Government

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) will repatriate three cast-bronze sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers to the government of India, according to an announcement today, January 28. Dating back multiple centuries, the sculptures had been stolen from Tamil temples and smuggled out of India in the mid-20th century, leaving murky provenance records before the Smithsonian's acquisition. The museum said that one…

Smithsonian museum to return 3 bronzes to India

India News: Museums abroad are increasingly confronting the legacy of looted cultural heritage in their collections, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asia.

Smithsonian to Return Three Looted Bronzes to India

News The sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers were stolen from Tamil temples and smuggled out of India in the mid-20th century. “Somaskanda” (Chola period, 12th century) Tamil Nadu state, India (all images courtesy the National Museum of Asian Art) The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) will repatriate three cast-bronze sculptures of Hindu gods and their followers to the government of India, according to an a…

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art Returns Three Looted Sculptures to India

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced today that it will return three bronze sculptures to India, continuing a recent series of restitutions that last month included Khmer-period works returned to Cambodia. The three bronze figures —“Shiva Nataraja” (ca. 990), “Somaskanda” (12th century), and “Saint Sundarar with Paravai”—were sacred objects originally carried in temple processions before they were stolen. According to the m…

National Museum of Asian Art to Return Three Bronze Sculptures to the Government of India Following the Museum’s Extensive Provenance Research - National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art announced today its plans to return three sculptures to the Government of India.

Smithsonian Asian art museum to return three stolen bronzes to India

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. PHOTO: @si.edu The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is returning to the Indian government three bronzes, museum leaders told The Washington Post, after extensive provenance research indicated that the objects were removed from their original sites illegally. The trove includes the 12th-century “Somaskanda,” which shows Shiva with his wife, the 16th-century “Saint Sundarar With Paravai,” a…