US’S METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART TO RETURN 15 SMUGGLED SCULPTURES TO INDIA

Sat 01 Apr 2023:

The renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in United States will return 15 sculptures to India after it was learnt that the antiquities were illegally removed from the country and sold by disgraced dealer Subhash Kapoor.

In a statement on Thursday, the Met said it will transfer the 15 sculptures for return to the government of India. The works range in date from the 1st century BCE to the 11th century CE, and include terracotta, copper and stone.

The God Revanta Returning from a Hunt Shri Parshotam Ram Kapoor , Jalandhar and New Delhi, India; Subhash Kapoor , New York (by 2003; donated to MMA). Bronze India (Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh)/ Date: ca. 10th century; later Chalukyan period.

All of the works were sold at one point by Subhash Kapoor, who is currently serving a prison sentence in India.

“The Museum is committed to the responsible acquisition of archaeological art and applies rigorous provenance standards both to new acquisitions and to works long in its collection. The Museum is actively reviewing the history of antiquities from suspect dealers. The Museum values highly its long-standing relationships with the government of India and is pleased to resolve this matter,” the Met said in the statement.

Pot Gift of Subhash Kapoor, in honor of his daughter, Mamta Kapoor, 2003. Ceramic India (Bengal)/ Date: ca. 1st century BCE; (Shunga period).

The museum contacted Homeland Security about its works from Subhash Kapoor in 2015 and is “pleased to be acting on this matter today as a result of the criminal investigation into Subhash Kapoor” by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, it said.

Through this cooperative partnership, the museum received new information from the Manhattan DA’s office about 15 works of art that made it clear that the works should be transferred, resulting in a constructive resolution, the statement said.

Vessel [Subhash Kapoor , New York, until 2001]; Nathan Rubin-Ida Ladd Family Foundation , New York (2001002; donated to MMA). Ceramic, India (Bengal)/ Date: ca. 1st century BCE; (Shunga period).

A sandstone Celestial Dancer (Apsara) sculpture from Madhya Pradesh, mid-11th century, C.E (Chandela period). Provenance: The work was acquired by Florence and Herbert Irving in two parts, bust and lower torso, and joined by MMA in 1992. Bust: [Yvonne Moreau-Gobard, née Hustinx, The Hague and Paris, until 1986, sold to the Irvings]; Florence and Herbert Irving, New York (1986–2015, on loan to MMA 1992–2015; donated to MMA); Lower torso: [Art of the Past, Inc., New York, until 1992, sold to the Irvings]; Florence and Herbert Irving, New York (1992–2015, on loan to MMA 1992–2015; donated to MMA).

In addition, in cooperation with the DA office’s criminal investigation into Turkish sites Bubon and Perge, the museum recently removed from display from its Greek and Roman galleries three pieces from Turkey – two of which were loans and a third is part of the Met’s collection, it said.

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