The Metropolitan Museum of Art has repatriated two sandstone Khmer sculptures to Cambodia: a 10th-century guardian deity (rākṣasa) from the Prasat Chen temple at Koh Ker and a 7th-century lintel featuring a kirtimukha dragon. The returns follow an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into the late dealer Doris Wiener and her daughter Nancy Wiener, who pleaded guilty to trafficking looted artifacts in 2021. The sculptures were seized by the DA's office this year and formally transferred to Cambodia alongside a third sculpture surrendered by a private collector. The Met has previously returned looted objects to Cambodia in 2013 and 2023, linked to investigations into trafficker Douglas Latchford.
These repatriations underscore the ongoing global reckoning with looted cultural heritage and the role of major museums in addressing past acquisitions of illicit antiquities. The case highlights the effectiveness of legal investigations—the DA's Antiquities Trafficking Unit has recovered over 6,350 cultural treasures valued at more than $490 million—and the increasing willingness of institutions like the Met to proactively review collections and return objects with disputed provenance. The returns also reinforce Cambodia's efforts to reclaim artifacts looted during periods of conflict and instability, particularly from the Koh Ker temple complex.