Antiquities from Met set to return as US hands over 1,414 objects

While no specific details regarding their age or region have been provided to the ASI at this stage, the US authorities have said the 1,414 objects, from different sources, seem to be of “Indian provenance”.

A senior official said the batch includes some antiquities from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met).

According to an investigation in March by The Indian Express, in association with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the UK-based Finance Uncovered, a treasure trove at the Met was traced to antique dealer Subhash Kapoor who is serving a prison term in Tamil Nadu for smuggling antiquities.

After the publication of the series, the Supreme Court of the State of New York had issued a search warrant against the Met on March 22, giving the authorities 10 days to seize the antiquities. On March 30, the Met had issued a statement saying it would “transfer 15 sculptures for return to the Government of India, after having learned that the works were illegally removed from India”. Of the 15 items listed in the search warrant, 10 were flagged in The Indian Express report.

In July, the Indian government had said the objects from the Met were expected to arrive in the country in the next three-six months. While 105 antiquities were handed over by the US authorities to the Indian Consulate in New York on July 17, and repatriated to India in August this year, the Met’s objects were not among them.

ASI officials said the new batch of 1,414 objects is likely to include non-antiquities as well, and will be ranked accordingly, keeping the definition of “antiquity” in mind.

As per the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, an antiquity is defined as “any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraph or other work of art or craftsmanship; any article, object or thing detached from a building or cave; any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customs, morals or politics in bygone ages; any article, object or thing of historical interest” that “has been in existence for not less than 100 years”.

Non-antiquities are generally decorative objects and idols, or replicas of original art objects used for ornamental purposes.

In the last four years, India has brought back about 400 smuggled/ stolen antiquities from the US. Raising the issue during his state visit to the US in July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said: “I am happy that the American government has decided to return more than 100 antiquities that were stolen from us.”

The two countries are signing a cultural property agreement to check the smuggling of antiquities in the future. In fact, India is pursuing agreements pertaining to the return of antiquities, through both bilateral and multilateral routes, with various other countries as well.

Meanwhile, officials said a team from the ASI has just returned after a three-day visit to Singapore, where 16 metal sculptures stolen from India were discovered recently. These were stolen from various temples in Tamil Nadu, and FIRs had been lodged with the TN Police’s idol wing. The ASI team was accompanied by officers from the TN Police idol wing for verification and confirmation.