Cambodia Seeks Return of More Antiquities From U.S. Museums

Encouraged by their success in securing the return of two ancient statues from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cambodian officials are pressing other U.S. museums to return antiquities allegedly looted from a thousand-year-old temple, writes The New York Times.

The Southeast Asian country says the Denver Art Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Norton Simon Museum in Southern California have statues connected to the Prasat Chen complex. All were acquired after 1970, when the United Nations adopted a convention on the illicit antiquities. The Met agreed to relinquish the two statues last month after obtaining convincing evidence that they had been stolen.

Experts say the Met’s decision could put pressure on the other three institutions to review the provenance of their statues.