Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
news

Bonhams consignor withdraws looted Nepalese sculptures from auction

The five figures of Hindu gods once adorned a gilded temple gateway in a Unesco world heritage site

Catherine Hickley
4 June 2021
Share
The frieze above the golden gateway of Taleju Bhawani Temple at Patan Durbar Square Image: courtesy of Lost Arts of Nepal

The frieze above the golden gateway of Taleju Bhawani Temple at Patan Durbar Square Image: courtesy of Lost Arts of Nepal

A consignor has withdrawn five gilded bronze Nepalese figures from an online auction of Himalayan and Buddhist art at Bonhams in Paris after they were identified as looted from the temple gate of a royal palace in the Kathmandu Valley.

The five gilded sculptures dating from the early 18th century were among 12 figures torn from a frieze above the golden gateway of Taleju Bhawani Temple at Patan Durbar Square around 40 years ago, according to the organisation Lost Arts of Nepal. The Patan complex, located in the foothills of the Himalayas, is a Unesco world heritage site. The sculptures, portraying the Hindu gods Shiva, Panchmukhi Hanuman, Devi, Chamundi and Bhairava, were listed with price estimates of €3,000 to €5,000 on Bonhams’s website.

A spokesman for Bonhams wrote in an email in response to an inquiry from The Art Newspaper that the consignor had decided to withdraw the objects from the auction, which runs until 10 June. He did not respond when asked whether the seller is prepared to negotiate with the Nepalese claimants.

Twelve figures were torn from a frieze above the golden gateway of Taleju Bhawani Temple at Patan Durbar Square Image: courtesy of Lost Arts of Nepal

“This find will help restore our faith,” said a statement sent by email by Lost Arts of Nepal. The group added that there were other items in the sale which it suspects are looted, but it does not have the photographic evidence to justify the claim.

According to the Nepali Times, which first reported that the stolen items had surfaced at auction, the looting was recorded in a book by Jürgen Schick, Gods are Leaving the Country: Art Theft From Nepal. He described the plundering of the temple as “one of the most odious cases of art theft in Nepal.” Photographs show the gate before and after the removal of the figures, which were later replaced with replicas.

Golden gate of Taleju Bhawani Temple Image: courtesy of Lost Arts of Nepal

Art marketAuctionsBonhamsLootNepal
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Restitutionnews
5 March 2021

Looted in the 1980s, a sacred stele at the Dallas Museum of Art is headed back to Nepal

After FBI investigation, sculptural antiquity lent by a collector is determined to have a disturbing provenance

Nancy Kenney
Repatriationnews
18 March 2022

Stolen Nepalese temple artefacts found at London gallery returned in embassy ceremony

The artefacts, from the 16th and 18th centuries, were discovered in Barakat Gallery and were voluntarily handed over to police

Kabir Jhala
Museums & Heritagenews
16 August 2022

The Metropolitan Museum returns two looted artefacts to Nepal

The two works, given to the museum in the 1990s, were looted from temples in Kathmandu according to recent internal provenance research

Gabriella Angeleti