The Prakhon Chai Hoard Debunked
Unravelling Six Decades of Myth, Misdirection, and Misidentification
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4282844 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tanongsak Hanwong (Film Independent), Lalita Hanwong (Kasetsart University), Shirley A Murphy (0000-0002-8605-3562, SOAS University of London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 177-201 |
| Publication date | 2024-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Cultural Property (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0940-7391 • E-ISSN: 1465-7317 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0940739124000262 |
| OpenAlex | W4405333061 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
The so-called "Prakhon Chai Hoard" is one of Southeast Asia's most infamous cases of looting. The story begins in 1964 when a cache of Buddhist bronzes from Northeast Thailand appeared on the international art market via the auction house Spink & Son, London. They quickly ended up in museums and private collections throughout the US and Europe. The exact findspot was unclear but soon became associated with an unidentified temple in Prakhon Chai district in Buriram province. The moniker "Prakhon Chai Hoard/bronzes" subsequently took hold, becoming commonplace in museum displays, dealer/auction house catalogs, and art historical discourse. However, in 2002, it was revealed the temple in question was Plai Bat II in Lahan Sai district.This article untangles the many myths and misunderstandings surrounding this act of looting. It does so by reviewing the extant literature in light of information revealed by criminal investigations into the late Douglas Latchford from 2012 onwards, and presenting conclusions drawn from our decade-long documentation of villager testimonies at Plai Bat II (2014-2024
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Chai · Geography · Hoard · Literature · Looting · Mythology · PARRY · Purgatory · SWORD · Theology · Archaeological Research and Protection · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Classics · Engineering · History · Philosophy · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
Un bronze d'époque préangkorienne représentant Maitreya
Notes sur l'Art du Bronze dans l'ancien Cambodge
Khmer Commercial Development and Foreign Contacts Under Suryavarman I
Dvāravatī and Zhenla in the seventh to eighth centuries
Temple Looting in Cambodia
Thailand's Khmer as ‘invisible minority
The Art and Architecture of Thailand
The Indianized States of Southeast Asia
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |