Revanta and His Entourage

Revanta and His Entourage

During the Asia Week sales of March 2016, United States authorities seized two stolen statues from Christie's New York: this Panel of Revanta and his Entourage, and a Stele of Rishabhanata. The investigation originated from a search executed by law enforcement at a storage unit belonging to dealer Subhash Kapoor on January 5, 2012. During this search officials discovered a computer disc containing photographs of stolen objects, including, according to court records, one of this panel. The image captured the object against a wall, surrounded by mud and straw, suggesting it had been recently stolen from a site in India. The panel was subsequently listed for sale as Lot 62 in the auction, “The Lahiri Collection: Indian and Himalayan Art, Ancient and Modern, Sale 12255,” which was to be held at Christie's New York on March 15, 2016 as part of Asia Week, an annual exhibition of Asian art in New York City. The auction catalog claimed its provenance as: "Acquired from Spink & Sons, London, by 1999." It was estimated at USD $200,000-300,000. The investigation by special agents at Homeland Security Investigations was able to determine that the both artifacts had come from "Shantoo," an alleged antiquities trafficker in India. Authorities said the panel appeared in images provided by the dealer that appeared to include an "orphan fragment" – a piece perfectly broken off by smugglers to be sold after the sale of the main part of the sculpture. Antiquities traffickers often use such orphans to extort a high price from buyers who wish to make an object whole again. As here, they can also serve as evidence that an object was illicitly trafficked.

1

Sculpture

Christie's New York

Spink & Sons

The Lahiri Collection: Dr. Avijit Lahiri and his wife, Dr. Bratati Lahiri

India

Jason Felch

VG