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View all search resultsUS returns two 8th-century Buddhist statues looted from Indonesia
According to US authorities, the sculptures were looted from archaeological sites in Indonesia decades ago before being sold to Latchford who was based in Bangkok.
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Two eighth-century Buddhist bronze statues depicting the four-armed Avalokiteshvara that were looted from Indonesia and trafficked to the United States by antiquity dealer Douglas Latchford. The US repatriated the sculptures to Indonesia in July 2026 after a US collector voluntarily surrendered 34 Cambodian and Southeast Asian items. (Courtesy of/U.S. Embassy Jakarta)
T
he United States has repatriated two eighth-century bronze statues looted from Indonesia after they were recovered as part of an investigation into the illicit trafficking network of infamous antiquity dealer Douglas Latchford.
According to the Office of the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the statues were trafficked into the US by Latchford, who was indicted in 2019 for allegedly orchestrating a decades-long scheme to traffic and sell looted Cambodian and other Southeast Asian antiquities on the international art market.
The charges against Latchford were dismissed following his death in 2020. However, in 2021, a US collector voluntarily surrendered 34 Cambodian and Southeast Asian antiquities acquired from Latchford, including the two Indonesian bronze statues.
The artworks were formally returned during a repatriation ceremony at the Indonesian Consulate in New York last week.
"Today, we celebrate the return of Indonesia's cultural heritage to the Indonesian people," US Attorney Jay Clayton said at the ceremony.
"This Office is committed to thwarting the illicit trafficking of looted and stolen art and antiquities. We will continue to partner with Homeland Security Investigations to end callous profiteering from stolen artworks of cultural significance, and we thank the collector of these works for their voluntary safe return. It is with great pleasure that we send these artworks on the final leg of their journey home," Clayton added.
The repatriated artifacts are two eighth-century standing bronze sculptures of the four-armed Avalokiteshvara, a revered bodhisattva in Buddhism associated with compassion and mercy.
