Singapore museum says 400-year-old artefact allegedly stolen from Nepal was acquired by the book

via Channel NewsAsia, 17 August 2022: By the book is a pretty naive excuse, considering how we’ve seen in the antiquities trade that provenance can easily be faked, and also because stolen artefacts have been acquired by the ACM before. At least the Met had the decency to say that they would be having ‘open dialogue’ with Nepal for investigations.

A nearly 400-year-old religious artefact allegedly stolen from Nepal and tracked down to Singapore recently was acquired in accordance with “established procedures” both local and international, said the museum where the piece is now on display.

On Sunday (Aug 14), an online initiative to recover lost artistic heritage from Nepal announced that a sculpture of a Hindu deity belonging to the Neel Barahi temple – dated 1636 and claimed as stolen in 1999 – had been “located in the collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), Singapore”.

Source: Singapore museum says 400-year-old artefact allegedly stolen from Nepal was acquired by the book

See also:

• Allegedly stolen Nepalese artefact acquired through established procedures: ACM | The Straits Times, 17 August 2022
• 400-year-old ‘stolen’ artifact from Nepal acquired via ‘established procedures’: Asian Civilisations Musuem | Mothership, 17 August 2022