Cambodia retrieves UK-looted Angkor jewelry, urges more repatriations

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Mar 2023 13:10

The Ministry of Culture discreetly received 77 pieces last month from the late British art dealer Douglas Latchford's family.

Gold crowns, necklaces, and amulets were among the trove of treasures from the Angkor period that have been returned to Cambodia. (AFP)

Cambodian leader Hun Sen disclosed a collection of stock Angkor crown jewelry on Friday, recently returned after a decade in Britain, pleading that more long-lost treasures be handed back.

The trove of treasures from the Angkor period included gold crowns, necklaces, and amulets. The Angkor period ran from the ninth to the 14th centuries in Southeast Asia, which was dominated by the Khmer empire.

The Cambodian Culture Ministry characterized the items as "priceless cultural heritage." The items are to be displayed at the national museum, where two 10th-century recently-returned sculptures will also be displayed on Friday.

"I appeal to museums, institutions, and Khmer artifact collectors to continue to return those items voluntarily to Cambodia," Hun Sen told the ceremony. "Heritage items should be returned to their country of origin."

The Ministry of Culture discreetly received 77 pieces last month from the late British art dealer Douglas Latchford's family.

The British Ambassador to Cambodia, Dominic Williams tweeted about the return of the artifacts and highlighted their deep cultural meaning.

Genuinely moving to see the reactions of Cambodians to the return of unique artefacts that carry such deep cultural meaning, including jewellery recently returned from the UK.

An extraordinary privilege to see these previously stolen artefacts displayed in their ancestral home. pic.twitter.com/Sr4zWP6HWd
— Dominic Williams 🇬🇧🇰🇭 (@DomWUK) March 17, 2023

Latchford was awaiting trial in the US for art trafficking when he died in 2020. That was the same year his family returned the antiquities to Cambodia; the family returned five stone and bronze artifacts in 2021.

The United States also returned 30 looted items last year, which include bronze and stone statues of Buddhist and Hindu deities, carved over 1,000 years ago.

As a result, the Cambodian government began negotiating with other countries, the US included, alongside private collectors to return more Khmer artifacts to Cambodia.