The US handed over 10 artefacts to India in a ceremony to mark the Indian Independence day festivities in NYC in what looks like a tradition now – for the past 2 years the Indian High Commission in London has received such restitutions on Aug 15^th ( 2018 – Nalanda Buddha , 2019 Chandavaram limestone pillar and Narthana Krishna Bronze), but what makes this US restitution unique might miss the casual observer.

But first – India owes a great debt and thanks for the years of hard work put on these cases by   Manhattan DA’s office including the big man Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, ICE Brenton Easter and support from investigative journalists Mr Jason Felch, Ms Michaela Boland and the volunteers of India Pride Project.

• Of the 10 artefacts being returned there is not a single one directly associated with Subhash Kapoor (though there is an indirect and important link which we will explain)
• For the first time we are seeing the US law enforcement openly disclosing the names of galleries and individuals from whom these artefacts were seized with their valuation. Unlike in the past where such restitutions were token photo ops with no names taken this is a welcome move.
• For the first time we are seeing idols seized from Wiener galleries being restituted to India. Though India has already received another Wiener linked artefact – the Gupta-era seated Buddha sold by the gallery to the NGA for 1 million USD, its return was before Wiener was formally charged and was considered a voluntary return ( It was us along with Mr Jason Felch and Michaela Boland who exposed the fake provenance of that bronze leading to the return). However, the Wiener gallery charge sheet in 2017 which is actually even more damaging shows that Doris Wiener (now deceased) was linked to many criminal smuggling gangs in India and shared common supplies to Kapoor but also to notorious art criminal Vaman Ghiya. Sadly, the case seems to be hit bad roads and museums, collectors and auction houses have not accorded the same interest to the Kapoor objects as to the Wiener Objects.
• The return also taints the collection of a major Indian art collector and who we understand was appealing to the ASI to move his collection from London to another country.  We hope the ASI will take this opportunity to scrutinise his entire collection and their provenance and proof of legit export out of India.
• For the first time there are no Tamil Nadu idols in this lot -which is quite surprising as there are still many TN artefacts seized and in the process of retrieval in America but why I would call it important is – for too long have Indians seen Idol theft as a Tamil Nadu Centric problem and that somehow the other states are immune to it. Yes, Tamil Nadu has had its fair share of idol thefts and successful restitutions but that has been possible because the state had idols which are better documented than other states. 
• The custodians and authorities have been living in denial about thefts in other culturally rich yet not properly documented states. Today’s restitution is a wakeup call for the custodians and establishment to understand the PAN Indian nature of the collecting lobby smuggling cabal. 
• More importantly, majority of the seizures were based on matches from Robber photos seized as part of Operation Hidden Idol breaking the wall that other countries and organisations – in particular Australia, which uses as an excuse to hold on to unprovenanced antiquities returning only those that source nations can prove stolen with pre theft insitu photos after the 1970 UN statute conveniently hiding the fact that most have clear fake provenances, robber photos showing objects recently removed from their original settings.
• The use of robber photos to stake claims has been very effectively used by Italy and Indian law enforcement and custodians are yet to understand the importance of securing such archives via international cooperation MoUs with the USA.
• The true extent of the rampant plunder of Indian artefacts will only be known when a wider investigation is done and all countries recognise that robber photos are and should be used as evidence thereby crushing the underbelly of the illicit trade in cultural property.

Robber Photos and Operation Hidden Idol (as covered by Jason Felch in his site Chasing Aphrodite)

Operation Hidden Idol which began with ICE/HSI investigation into Subhash Kapoor and his gallery Art of the Past (Kapoor is still on trial in India, arrested in 2011 and extradited to India in 2012)-US authorities seized 2,622 objects valued at more than $108 million from Kapoor’s business and storage facilities. Perhaps more importantly, federal agents secured the cooperation of former Kapoor associates and seized decades of his business records, both of which have revealed a network of antiquities looters and smugglers across Asia whose objects Kapoor sold to museums and collectors around the globe. In the years since the Kapoor seizures, Easter and Bogdanos have been investigating the collectors and museums who bought from Kapoor and the suppliers who smuggled looted antiquities for him.

Kapoor’s files revealed the object’s earlier history: a photo (below) of the Rishabhanata was found in a folder labeled “Shantoo,” the nick name for an alleged Indian smuggler named Ranjeet Kanwat, court records state. The image showed the sculpture sitting on a bed of straw as it looked soon after being looted.

The first to match the Shantoo image to the Lahiri stele was Vijay Kumar, an Indian art enthusiast and blogger in Singapore who has been quietly helping authorities track down Kapoor’s looted art. In 2014 Kumar recognized the Rishabhanata offered by Lynch and Forge as the same one that Shantoo had offered to Kapoor. The problem: nobody knew where the piece was at the time.

When Kumar saw the Rishabhanata appear in the Christie’s catalog for its Asia Week sale, he alerted investigators, who organized the seizure.

Smugglers and dealers “are destroying context, reducing our Gods to showcase curios and funding anti-social elements,” Kumar said Friday when asked about his role. Countries of origin “must realise the value of what the USA is doing and support this with arrests and prosecutions.”

Another Robber Photo

All the images are provided by the author.