SINGAPORE: A almost 400-year-old religious artefact allegedly stolen through Nepal and tracked down to Singapore recently was acquired in accordance with “established procedures” both local and global, said the art gallery where the piece is currently on display.
On Sunday (Aug 14), an online initiative to recover lost artistic heritage from Nepal announced that a sculpture of a Hindu deity belonging to the Neel Barahi temple – went out with 1636 and claimed as stolen in 1999 – had been “located in the collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), Singapore”.
The blog post by the Lost Artistry of Nepal Facebook page was found by multiple Nepalese media outlets which usually referred to the four-sided artefact as an “icon of great archaeological importance”.
An ACM spokesperson on Wed told CNA it was aware of the press reports.
“The object in the reviews refer to a copper cover of a linga, which was acquired by ACM in 2015 in accordance with the National Heritage Board’s set up procedures on exchange, ” he stated.
“These methods include evaluation by ACM’s acquisition committee made up of external professionals, as well as rigorous provenance checks carried out during the time of purchase. ”
These provenance – or ownership record – checks are benchmarked against international practices and frequently reviewed, added the particular spokesperson.
“ACM further information that the object is just not listed in the Artwork Loss Register, ” he said, mentioning the world’s biggest private database associated with looted art.
A linga is the phallic and cosmic pillar symbol of the Hindu god Shiva, according to a caption below the Neel Barahi exhibit, which usually CNA located in ACM’s Ancient Religions photo gallery on the second flooring.