The US will return to India three ancient bronze sculptures belonging to the Chola and Vijaynagar periods which had been illegally removed from the country’s temples.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington DC issued a statement on Wednesday saying “rigorous provenance research” had documented the sculptures had been removed illegally from temple settings, and would therefore be returned to the Government of India.
The sculptures are ‘Shiva Nataraja’ belonging to the Chola period, circa 990; ‘Somaskanda’ of the Chola period, 12th century; and ‘Saint Sundarar with Paravai' of the Vijayanagar period, 16th century.
The museum’s statement added that the Indian government has agreed to place one of the sculptures on long-term loan, an arrangement that will allow the museum to publicly share the full story of the object’s origins, removal and return, and to underscore the museum’s commitment to provenance research.
The sculptures “exemplify the rich artistry of South Indian bronze casting” and were originally sacred objects traditionally carried in temple processions. The ‘Shiva Nataraja’, which is to be placed on long-term loan, will be on view as part of the exhibition ‘The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas’, the statement said.
It was the National Museum of Asian Art’s dedicated provenance team and curators of South and Southeast Asian Art that made the return possible, with support from the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry and numerous organisations and individuals around the world, the statement mentioned.
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In 2023, in collaboration with the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry, museum researchers confirmed that the bronzes had been photographed in temples in Tamil Nadu, India, between 1956 and 1959.
The Archaeological Survey of India subsequently reviewed these findings and affirmed that the sculptures had been removed in violation of Indian laws.
Chase Robinson, the museum’s director, said they carry out a robust programme of research that seeks to trace not just how the objects in their collection came to the museum, but also the history of their origins and movements across time.
The return of these sculptures, the result of rigorous research, “shows our commitment to ethical museum practice,” Robinson said, voicing appreciation to the Indian government for enabling the museum to continue exhibiting the “long-admired Shiva Nataraja for the benefit of our visitors.”
The ‘Shiva Nataraja’ belonged to the Sri Bhava Aushadesvara Temple in Tirutturaippundi Taluk, Tanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, where it was photographed in 1957. The bronze sculpture was later acquired by the National Museum of Asian Art from Doris Wiener Gallery in New York in 2002.
In addition to photographic evidence confirming the sculpture’s presence in the temple in 1957, a provenance researcher at the museum determined that the Doris Wiener Gallery had provided falsified documentation to facilitate the sale to the museum.
The ‘Somaskanda’ and ‘Saint Sundarar with Paravai’ entered the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art as part of a gift of 1,000 objects in 1987. Research led by the museum’s team at the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry confirmed that the ‘Somaskanda’ was photographed at the Visvanatha Temple in Alattur village, Mannarkudi taluk, Tamil Nadu in 1959, and the ‘Saint Sundarar with Paravai' at the Shiva Temple in Veerasolapuram village, Kallakuruchchi Taluk, Tamil Nadu in 1956.
The museum and the Embassy of India are in close contact, finalising arrangements to mark the agreement.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art opened in 1923 as America’s first national art museum and the first Asian art museum in the United States.
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