PUBLISHED: 21 May 2024 at 04: 49
After more than three decades in the hands of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a 900-year-old statue was suddenly brought back from Thailand by a notorious craft supplier in 1975.
The 129-cen-metre bronze monument known as the Golden Boy, which is thought to represent the Hindu god Shiva, along with a smaller monument of a standing woman, was transported yesterday to the Suvarnabhumi airport.
Before being displayed for the community, the statues were transported to the National Museum in Bangkok, where they would receive a formal meeting.
After checking whether the two documents were connected to Douglas Latchford, an artwork dealer who was accused of running a significant system that snatched treasures from all over Southeast Asia, the Met decided to return them.
Latchford smuggled The Golden Boy from Thailand in 1975, which is thought to have been produced over 900 years before. According to Latchford’s ebooks, Khmer Bronzes and Khmer Gold, the monument was discovered in Ban Yang Pongsadao community in tambon Ta Chong in Buri Ram’s Lahan Sai area.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s set held the anachronism between 1988 and 2023.
The Golden Boy‘s personality is also up for debate.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has one of two ancient bronze images that has been returned to Thailand, including the 11th century Shiva statue known as the” Golden Boy.” MINISTRY OF CULTURE
The Golden Boy is a monument of King Jayavarman VI, according to scientist Tanongsak Hanwong, who constructed the Phimai stone mansion in Buri Ram, no Shiva, as most people believe.
Mr. Tanongsak, who is also a member of the committee for the relocation of stolen artifacts, claimed the Golden Boy is more in line with the Phimai rock castle’s sculptures than the Shiva sculptures that are frequently found in the area.
Thus, he believes the artefact is a sculpture of King Jayavarman VI ( 1080 to 1107 AD ) of the Mahidharapura Dynasty. The Phimai rock castle was constructed by the monarch as the administrative center of the prehistoric Khmer Empire.
The Khmer Empire prospered along the Khorat Plateau before gaining control of Siem Reap, which refutes past theories that the kingdom had moved to the Khorat Plateau from Cambodia.
This evening, the Ministry of Culture and the Fine Arts Department will keep an official relocation service at the Bangkok National Museum’s Issara Winitchai Throne Hall.