Statue of Hanuman
Object or Group Name
Case Summary
The museum began researching the Hanuman in 2013 after Cambodian officials claimed it had been illicitly removed from the Prasat Chen temple at the site along with several other Khmer sculptures at American museums.
Sonya Quintanilla, Cleveland's curator of Indian and Southeast Asian art, went to Cambodia in 2014 in search of a corresponding pedestal for the statue at the west gate of Prasat Chen, but did not find a match. However, during further research, Quintanilla ascertained that in 1968 the Hanuman's head had been put up for sale in Bangkok, and the body four years later.
In February 2015, a pedestal in the east gate of the site was excavated and found to match the base of the statue. Based on this evidence, the museum returned the statue to Cambodia in May of the same year.
Number of Objects
Object Type
Culture
Museum Name
Museum Accession Number
Receiving Country
Sources
Returning Hanuman sculpture to Cambodia a nimble, savvy play by Cleveland Museum of Art (commentary)
http://www.cleveland.com/arts/index.ssf/2015/05/cleveland_museum_of_arts_retur.html
Looted Statue Officially Returned to Cambodia
https://web.archive.org/web/20150801195343/https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/looted-statue-officially-returned-to-cambodia-83672/
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Hanuman, 921-945.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150813042735/http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.46?f[0]=field_collection:834&f[1]=field_classification_text:Sculpture&year_operator=2&year=900&year_era=1&year_end_era=1&op=search&form_build_id=form-oat97yGSy_DjzOfq6JRgNIP6-CjTangO0jV59MAcmsY&form_id=clevelandart_
Cambodia Presses U.S. Museums to Relinquish Antiquities
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/arts/design/cambodia-presses-us-museums-to-return-antiquities.html?pagewanted=all