Khmer statue, which was almost to be auctioned at Sotheby's auction in 2011, the same will be returned to their homeland. Auction house took on the costs of transporting the artifact in Cambodia

statue of a warrior. X century . Koh Ker , Cambodia
Sandstone . Height 158,4
Source : nytimes.com

auction house Sotheby's has decided to voluntarily return to Cambodia Khmer statue of the tenth century , which was almost sold at auction in 2011 . Then the exhibition c estimeytom $ 2 million removed from the auction at the request of the Cambodian government , saying that the artifact was illegally exported from the country in the 1970s . Warrior statue was stolen from sandstone temple complex of Koh Ker near Angkor. On the spot where once stood the statue remained pedestal and feet away from her. Please Cambodia only requested to return the statue , and then demanded to return the artifact to court .

parallel Cambodia filed a claims to the Metropolitan Museum , the collection of which were discovered two other stolen from Koh Ker statues , and Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, which holds the second statue warrior - one couple that got at Sotheby's. In May 2013 Metropolitan Museum decided to return home two statues of kneeling ministers .

Now, Sotheby's and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Cambodia won a second major victory in the return of stolen artifacts. However, it took about two years. For a long time the auction house refused to accept the theft of the statue , or rather , in Sotheby's said that to determine exactly when the artifact out of the country , is not possible. Statue was allegedly stolen their Koh Ker long before the Khmer Rouge . A sdatchitsa , Belgian Ruspoli di Poggio Doetsch Suazo (Decia Ruspoli di Poggio Suasa), purchased it in London in the mid-1970s , prior to the adoption of Cambodian law banning export of cultural property in 1993 , and therefore, is a full owner .

However, the District court in Manhattan decided otherwise - in favor of Cambodia. As a result Ruspoli di Poggio Doetsch Suazo will not receive any compensation for the statue cost about $ 2 million. Guilty auction house expressed a desire to pay the costs of transporting the statue back to Cambodia over the next 90 days. In gratitude, the plaintiffs took back accusations that sdatchitsa and the auction house knew about the illegal origin of the statue before the auction. In general, the split can be said amicably. Perhaps it was a shrewd move on the part of the auction house in coaxing the Asian art market ?

Prepared by Mary Onuchina , AI

Sources : nytimes.com , artinvestment.ru