Angela S Chiu
@chiuangelas.bsky.social
Independent scholar of the market for Asian antiquities, especially Khmer and Thai. PhD Buddhist art and literature of Thailand. Author of The Buddha in Lanna (U of Hawai'i Press, 2017)
After years of negotiations, collector István Zelnik has agreed to return to Cambodia hundreds of artefacts including textiles, prehistoric jewellery & tools, and sculpture. Most of the items had been looted decades ago during Cambodia's civil war. www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun...
November 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM
After years of negotiations, collector István Zelnik has agreed to return to Cambodia hundreds of artefacts including textiles, prehistoric jewellery & tools, and sculpture. Most of the items had been looted decades ago during Cambodia's civil war. www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun...
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a segment on looting of Cambodian artefacts and efforts to recover them from foreign collections. Hear from former looter "Blue Tiger" as well as restitution team members Brad Gordon and Thida Long. Starts around 19:20: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
August 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a segment on looting of Cambodian artefacts and efforts to recover them from foreign collections. Hear from former looter "Blue Tiger" as well as restitution team members Brad Gordon and Thida Long. Starts around 19:20: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Her footnote 151 is to Giteau’s 1965 book, Khmer Sculpture and the Angkor Civilization (Harry N. Abrams), which states that the statue was “Acquired in Thailand.” Here Bunker’s statement is matched by her reference. She doesn't repeat her earlier claim about the museum archives.
August 7, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Her footnote 151 is to Giteau’s 1965 book, Khmer Sculpture and the Angkor Civilization (Harry N. Abrams), which states that the statue was “Acquired in Thailand.” Here Bunker’s statement is matched by her reference. She doesn't repeat her earlier claim about the museum archives.
In Bunker & Latchford’s 2011 book, Khmer Bronzes, she describes Ga.5428 as “The four-armed bronze Maitreya from Thailand in the Phnom Penh Museum… “
August 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM
In Bunker & Latchford’s 2011 book, Khmer Bronzes, she describes Ga.5428 as “The four-armed bronze Maitreya from Thailand in the Phnom Penh Museum… “
Her footnote 41 to this statement is to Giteau and Gueret’s 1997 book, which actually only says, “Unknown origin – bought in Siam.” Thus her claim isn’t supported by her reference. She provides no reference to museum records.
August 7, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Her footnote 41 to this statement is to Giteau and Gueret’s 1997 book, which actually only says, “Unknown origin – bought in Siam.” Thus her claim isn’t supported by her reference. She provides no reference to museum records.
Regarding Emma Bunker: As noted earlier, she had written in her 2002 article, “The Prakhon Chai Story: Facts and Fiction” (Arts of Asia), that “according to museum records, the bronze was originally acquired in northeastern Thailand.”
August 7, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Regarding Emma Bunker: As noted earlier, she had written in her 2002 article, “The Prakhon Chai Story: Facts and Fiction” (Arts of Asia), that “according to museum records, the bronze was originally acquired in northeastern Thailand.”
In 1997, Madeleine Giteau & Danielle Guéret published the statue as “Unknown origin – bought in Siam” in their book, Khmer Art: The Civilisations of Angkor (ASA/Somogy). Giteau was a former curator of the National Museum of Cambodia.
August 7, 2025 at 10:34 AM
In 1997, Madeleine Giteau & Danielle Guéret published the statue as “Unknown origin – bought in Siam” in their book, Khmer Art: The Civilisations of Angkor (ASA/Somogy). Giteau was a former curator of the National Museum of Cambodia.
In 1955, Pierre Dupont, in his article, “La statuaire préangkorienne” (Artibus Asiae), published the statue & stated that the “provenance is unknown” and that it was “acquired … in Bangkok.”
August 7, 2025 at 10:33 AM
In 1955, Pierre Dupont, in his article, “La statuaire préangkorienne” (Artibus Asiae), published the statue & stated that the “provenance is unknown” and that it was “acquired … in Bangkok.”
As I noted before, a 1931 catalogue of the Phnom Penh museum stated that Ga.5428 was acquired in Siam via the intervention of George Coedès.
August 7, 2025 at 10:32 AM
As I noted before, a 1931 catalogue of the Phnom Penh museum stated that Ga.5428 was acquired in Siam via the intervention of George Coedès.
I think the description matches this figure that according to the Norton Simon Museum’s catalogue published in 2010 was sold by Latchford to Norton Simon in 1976 for US$65,000.
www.nortonsimon.org/art/detail/M...
www.nortonsimon.org/art/detail/M...
July 29, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I think the description matches this figure that according to the Norton Simon Museum’s catalogue published in 2010 was sold by Latchford to Norton Simon in 1976 for US$65,000.
www.nortonsimon.org/art/detail/M...
www.nortonsimon.org/art/detail/M...
The Spink Zurich Director also noted that Latchford had 3 bronzes that Spink wished to have. One is a “bronze mythical animal” which is “the size of a small cat” & having “a magnificent blue-green patina.”
July 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The Spink Zurich Director also noted that Latchford had 3 bronzes that Spink wished to have. One is a “bronze mythical animal” which is “the size of a small cat” & having “a magnificent blue-green patina.”
In the 20 Nov 1974 letter, the Spink Zurich Director also mentioned that in addition to the Harihara, Latchford also consigned to Spink a “Large Koh Ker female torso,” a “very beautiful & important piece.” I wonder if it’s this one advertised by Spink in Oriental Art magazine’s Summer 1976 issue.
July 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
In the 20 Nov 1974 letter, the Spink Zurich Director also mentioned that in addition to the Harihara, Latchford also consigned to Spink a “Large Koh Ker female torso,” a “very beautiful & important piece.” I wonder if it’s this one advertised by Spink in Oriental Art magazine’s Summer 1976 issue.
The Met’s purchase of the Harihara was funded with gifts from Laurance S. Rockefeller & an anonymous donor, who, as Project Brazen noted, may well have been Latchford. The Met and Rockefeller enhanced Spink's prestige & cast a glow of legitimacy on the statue. www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
July 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The Met’s purchase of the Harihara was funded with gifts from Laurance S. Rockefeller & an anonymous donor, who, as Project Brazen noted, may well have been Latchford. The Met and Rockefeller enhanced Spink's prestige & cast a glow of legitimacy on the statue. www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
By Dec 1976, Spink had arranged for the Harihara to go to the Met, whose curator Martin Lerner’s acquisitions of Latchford-linked art would come to fill the museum’s Southeast Asian gallery & make his career.
July 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
By Dec 1976, Spink had arranged for the Harihara to go to the Met, whose curator Martin Lerner’s acquisitions of Latchford-linked art would come to fill the museum’s Southeast Asian gallery & make his career.
The letter reveals that Spink lent the Harihara to Rockefeller so that he could decide whether or not to buy it. (It was common for dealers to make such loans to top clients.)
July 29, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The letter reveals that Spink lent the Harihara to Rockefeller so that he could decide whether or not to buy it. (It was common for dealers to make such loans to top clients.)
The Harihara is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Dec 2023, the Met returned to Cambodia 14 sculptures it said were “associated with the dealer Douglas Latchford.” But it didn’t return this Harihara even though it had been mentioned years earlier in the 2019 US indictment of Latchford.
July 29, 2025 at 4:33 PM
The Harihara is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Dec 2023, the Met returned to Cambodia 14 sculptures it said were “associated with the dealer Douglas Latchford.” But it didn’t return this Harihara even though it had been mentioned years earlier in the 2019 US indictment of Latchford.
The Spink Zurich Director wrote that most of his time in Bangkok “was spent in numerous meetings with our friend Douglas.” Latchford consigned two 10th-c. stone sculptures to Spink. One is a Harihara, “supposedly recently excavated in Cambodia near the South Vietnamese border.”
July 29, 2025 at 4:32 PM
The Spink Zurich Director wrote that most of his time in Bangkok “was spent in numerous meetings with our friend Douglas.” Latchford consigned two 10th-c. stone sculptures to Spink. One is a Harihara, “supposedly recently excavated in Cambodia near the South Vietnamese border.”
For a Koh Ker statue, Peng Seng would have someone sign a false testimonial of its history. For future “important” items, Peng Seng & Latchford would ship a modern piece alongside an antiquity, each vaguely described in airway bills to create confusion over which bill went with which item.
July 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
For a Koh Ker statue, Peng Seng would have someone sign a false testimonial of its history. For future “important” items, Peng Seng & Latchford would ship a modern piece alongside an antiquity, each vaguely described in airway bills to create confusion over which bill went with which item.
The Spink Zurich Director (probably Swiss-American dealer-collector Isidor Kahane) described a trip to Bangkok where he bought Khmer antiquities from Peng Seng and Chai Ma, dealers who for years supplied Southeast Asian artefacts of murky origins to collectors, dealers, & museums around the world.
July 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
The Spink Zurich Director (probably Swiss-American dealer-collector Isidor Kahane) described a trip to Bangkok where he bought Khmer antiquities from Peng Seng and Chai Ma, dealers who for years supplied Southeast Asian artefacts of murky origins to collectors, dealers, & museums around the world.
This letter of 20 November 1974 is from the Director of Spink's Zurich office to a Director at Spink’s London HQ. It was used as evidence by US prosecutors in their 2012-13 suit against Sotheby’s over a stolen Khmer statue & in their 2019 indictment of Douglas Latchford for smuggling.
July 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
This letter of 20 November 1974 is from the Director of Spink's Zurich office to a Director at Spink’s London HQ. It was used as evidence by US prosecutors in their 2012-13 suit against Sotheby’s over a stolen Khmer statue & in their 2019 indictment of Douglas Latchford for smuggling.
Hong Kong Free Press reports Sotheby's comments on its postponement of today's planned auction of Buddha relics in Hong Kong hongkongfp.com/2025/05/07/s...
May 7, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Hong Kong Free Press reports Sotheby's comments on its postponement of today's planned auction of Buddha relics in Hong Kong hongkongfp.com/2025/05/07/s...
India's Ministry of Culture confirmed on X that the auction is postponed. "Further details will be shared in due course."
May 7, 2025 at 2:15 AM
India's Ministry of Culture confirmed on X that the auction is postponed. "Further details will be shared in due course."
Great news: Sotheby's has postponed the auction of the Buddha relics from Piprahwa stupa in India following international condemnation including a threat of legal of action from India
www.sothebys.com/en/piprahwa-...
www.sothebys.com/en/piprahwa-...
May 6, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Great news: Sotheby's has postponed the auction of the Buddha relics from Piprahwa stupa in India following international condemnation including a threat of legal of action from India
www.sothebys.com/en/piprahwa-...
www.sothebys.com/en/piprahwa-...
India's letter calling on Sotheby's to stop the sale is well worth a read. First, here are pages 1-3:
May 5, 2025 at 11:15 PM
India's letter calling on Sotheby's to stop the sale is well worth a read. First, here are pages 1-3: