The National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) in Washington, DC, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, announced last month that it will deaccession three bronze sculptures and return them to India following reviews of the objects’ provenance that revealed they had been removed illegally.
Two of the objects were produced during the Chola period (around 990 and in the 12th century), a time when royal patronage helped establish southern India as a major centre of bronze casting. The third bronze artefact being returned to India dates from the Vijayanagar period in the 16th century.
Saint Sundarar with Paravai, Vijayanagar period, 16th century, Tamil Nadu state, India National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, Gift of Arthur M. Sackler
The bronzes depict Hindu figures and were used in temple worship and ritual processions. Produced using the lost-wax technique, such figures are particularly valued for their naturalistic modelling, fluid movement and devotional function. Many surviving examples were taken from temples during the 20th century as the international market for such artefacts grew.
The oldest of the three objects, Shiva Nataraja, will remain at the NMAA on long-term loan from India, with its full historical context provided in updated signage
Shiva Nataraja, Chola period, around 990, Tamil Nadu state, India National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment and funds provided by Margaret and George Haldeman
In 2023, researchers at the NMAA working with the Photo Archives of the French Institute of Pondicherry found that, between 1956 and 1959, these three bronzes had photographed in temples in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Those findings were then reviewed by India’s Archaeological Survey, which concluded that the artefacts had been taken in violation of national laws.
Late last year, the NMAA returned three statues to the Cambodian government after an internal assessment determined the objects had been taken out of Cambodia during the country’s civil war (1967-75).