Art Institute of Chicago Returns Ancient Pilaster to Thailand

via Art Institute of Chicago, 18 June 2024: The Art Institute of Chicago has returned a 12th-century pilaster fragment to Thailand’s Phanom Rung temple after provenance research confirmed its origins.

The Art Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with the Kingdom of Thailand, announced today that it has initiated the return of an object—a fragment of a pilaster with Krishna lifting Mount Govardhana—to its place of origin in Thailand. The museum is committed to ongoing provenance research of our collection, and after conducting new research on this object, the museum proactively reached out to the Thai government to initiate the process to return it.

The object is a 12th-century fragment of a pilaster, which is a rectangular architectural column in the side of a doorframe. The pilaster was previously attributed to Cambodia, and new research identified that it originated at the Phanom Rung temple in northeast Thailand, a temple that the museum had previously returned an object to in the 1980s. With the confirmation of the pilaster’s origins, the museum reached out to the government of Thailand to share these new findings; this collaboration has led to today’s return.

“We are grateful for our close collaboration with the Fine Arts Department in Thailand and are honored to take this step in what I hope is a long and productive partnership,” said James Rondeau, President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute of Chicago. “We are deeply committed to fostering an ongoing relationship and continuing to learn from each other.”

Source: Art Institute of Chicago Returns Pilaster to Phanom Rung Temple in Thailand | The Art Institute of Chicago