TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States Attorney announced the return of two bronze sculptures stolen from Indonesia, according to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Friday.
"We will continue to partner with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to end callous profiteering from stolen artworks of cultural significance," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, in an embassy press release.
He said he thanked the collectors of the works for their voluntary safe return, noting that it was a source of pride for them to return the artworks to their homeland.
"This Office is committed to thwarting the illicit trafficking of looted and stolen art and antiquities," Clayton emphasized.
At the center of the repatriation ceremony at the Indonesian Consulate General in New York on Friday were two bronze Buddhist sculptures depicting Avalokiteshvara in a standing position, dating from the 8th century, each measuring approximately 16 and 20 inches (approximately 40.64 cm and 50.8 cm) tall.
The statues were illegally taken from archaeological sites in Indonesia by a group of looters several decades ago and then sold to Latchford, a Bangkok-based collector.
Latchford sold these historical objects, along with other Southeast Asian antiquities, to a US collector between 2003 and 2007, while concealing the fact that they were stolen.
Around the end of 2021, the collector voluntarily returned a total of 34 antiquities from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries that he had purchased from Latchford. Of those 34, two were bronze statues from Indonesia.
The two bronze sculptures returned to Indonesia were the subject of a civil forfeiture action filed in New York, United States v. A Late 12th Century Bayon-Style Sandstone Sculpture Depicting Eight-Armed Avalokiteshvara, et al., 22 Civ. 229 (JMF).
The two sculptures are identified as "Sculpture-12" and "Sculpture-27" in the civil forfeiture lawsuit.
Since 2012, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, working with HSI, has successfully investigated, identified, and repatriated dozens of stolen and smuggled antiquities previously owned by various individuals and institutions in the United States.
In 2019, Latchford was indicted in the Southern District of New York for orchestrating a multi-year scheme to sell looted antiquities from Southeast Asian countries on the international art market. The indictment was ultimately dismissed following Latchford's death.
Read: Indonesia Joins UNESCO Cultural Heritage Committee for 2026-2030
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