Sculpture from the Angkor National Museum

Sculpture from the Angkor National Museum: It’s always nice to report on a feel-good, positive outcome for stolen Khmer antiquities. This is one such case. This statue of the god Shiva from Prasat Trapeang Phong, part of the Roluos Group of temples, fifteen kilometers from Siem Reap, was photographed in June 1936 by EFEO when Lagisque, Stern and Coral-Remusat undertook clearing of the temple. At that time, it had no head. At some point in time the head was found and affixed to the body, the arms were reassembled and in early 1970, though superficial damage to the face remained, the statue was complete. Unluckily for Shiva, during the civil war era, while the statue was at the Angkor Conservation depot, the head went missing again, part of a series of thefts of sculptures which were published in the book called One Hundred Missing Objects: Looting in Angkor, in September 1993. That did the trick as the head was identified in a private collection in the United States and was returned to Cambodia on 10 April 2000. Today, the repatriated head is back on the shoulders of this four-and-a-half foot tall statue on display at the Angkor National Museum, but his arms are no longer attached for reasons unknown. The sculpture is dated to the second half of the 9th century but with a few styles mixed together some experts have suggested it might be an early 12th century copy of a ninth century image. This wasn’t uncommon at the temples of Roluos at that time. Identified as Shiva by the third eye on his forehead, his hair is braided and incised, his face rounded with a straight moustache and half-closed eyes. The torso is heavy and rigid, the arms are now missing and the body is unadorned besides the double-anchor shaped belted sampot with side pocket-folds. The story of Prasat Trapeang Phong is interesting, as some scholars believe the Roluos Group, known in the 9th century as Hariharalaya, actually got its name from two Harihara statues worshipped and found at this small temple, which had structures dating back into the pre-Angkor time period. Another one of the successes in retrieving stolen Khmer artifacts was also linked to the same temple. The four-faced head of Brahma was stolen at the same time as the head of Shiva from Angkor Conservation and was about to be sold at a Sotheby’s auction when it was spotted by EFEO’s Bruno Dagens and returned home amid great celebrations in December 1996.