Three carvings thought to be centuries old were seized by customs officials at Pochentong International Airport last week, on the evening they were meant to be exported.
The artifacts were bound for the US via Singapore and shipped by the Sky.Net freight company on behalf of Phnom Penh-based Hanuman Antiques and Arts, said Khieu Sam An, customs chief at Pochentong.
The confiscated cargo consisted of two wooden Buddha statues and one stone carving of the Hindu elephant-god Ganesh, Khieu Sam An said. In the customs declaration that was to accompany the statues to the US, Hanuman Antiques and Arts described the carvings as copies.
But Ministry of Culture experts Leap Kimheang and Yin Rathninry, enlisted by the customs office to estimate the origins of the artifacts, said they were of considerable age and value.
They described the oldest statue as a 55-centimeter-high standing Buddha figure made of wood, thought to date from the 14th century. The second carving, thought to have been made in the 18th century’s late Angkorian era, depicts a Buddha figure seated in the lotus position on a large, ornate pedestal, and is 70 cm high.
The third artifact, also thought to date from the 18th century, is a 27-cm-high figure of Ganesh seated in the lotus position. The experts think this sculpture may have been carved from stone taken from Angkor Wat.
Khieu Sam An said the owner of the antiques is a US citizen, but the price paid for the statues is as yet unknown. The statues are being kept at Pochentong’s Customs Office until the Asean Summit is over, when a full investigation will be launched, Khieu Sam An added.
A representative for Hanuman Antiques and Arts refused to discuss the case when contacted Tuesday. Although the government has made strides at curbing artifact smuggling, it remains a problem.
and officials worry that the country’s legacy is disappearing with its antiquities.
