New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will return 15 sculptures to India after discovering that the objects were illegally removed from the country.
All of the works were once sold by disgraced art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who formerly ran a Manhattan-based gallery and is currently serving a prison sentence in India.
The works range in date from the first century BCE to the 11th century CE. They include terracotta, copper, and stone.
In a statement, the museum said it 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 Met’s repatriation attempts
“The museum is actively reviewing the history of antiquities from suspect dealers,” it added.
“The museum values highly its long-standing relationships with the government of India, and is pleased to resolve this matter.”
In 2015, the institution started working with the US Department of Homeland Security to investigate any works potentially connected to Kapoor.
The Met recently removed three objects from display. These were believed to be illegally looted from the Bubon and Perge archaeological sites in Turkey.
According to a new report, the Metropolitan Museum of Art holds more than 1,000 objects that are connected to people who have been “either indicted or convicted of antiquities crimes”.
Of the 1,109 relics in the museum’s collection that are linked to art trafficking, 309 are now on display, the report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) found.
The Met has voluntarily returned some of the looted objects. In 2022, the Manhattan district attorney’s office seized 27 artifacts from the Met.
Officials said the items were taken from their countries of origin. Since 2017, the district attorney’s office has obtained several warrants to seize objects from the art museum.
Images: The Met
