Photo: Department of Homeland Security
$1.15 million worth of looted antiques from India are to be returned after they were recovery by the antiques trafficking unit in New York City. In total, the objects include ten antiquities that were recovered during a series of raids between 2015 and 2016 at three Manhattan locations: Christie’s Auction house, Nancy Weiner Gallery, and Maitreya Gallery.
According to Eileen Kinsella’s article on Artnet, the recovered antiques include…
a marble apsara ceiling panel dating to the 10th century and valued at $500,000 from Weiner Gallery, and, from Maitreya, a red sandstone figure of Parvati holding a fly whisk aside a male attendant, from Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, dating to the 11th century and valued at $54,000.
The highest-value items were those seized from Christie’s: a buff sandstone stele of Rishabhanata flanked by a pair of standing attendants, from Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, dating to the 10th century and valued at approximately $150,000, and a buff sandstone panel depicting Revanta and his entourage—a rare representation of the equestrian deity, a figure of great importance in Hinduism—dated to the 8th century, valued at approximately $300,000.
It is widely known that in 2012 Subhash Kapoor, an American antiques dealer, had his business records seized along with more than $100 million in looted antiques… according to the article, Kapoor is connected to these objects, so hopefully investigators can continue using the information they found to recover and return more missing artifacts and antiques.
Source: American Authorities Have Returned 10 Looted Antiquities Worth a Combined $1.2 Million Back to India