via The Telegraph, 02 July 2022: Both the British Museum and the V&A Museum are opening their collections for inspection to the Cambodians looking for looted artefacts.
The British Museum will be scoured for “stolen” Cambodian artefacts, as experts have been granted permission to inspect its collection.
The Cambodian government demanded the right to inspect in order to recover statues looted during the chaos of Khmer Rouge rule, which they suspect were trafficked into the UK by a British art dealer, and ultimately sold into the museum’s vast and largely unseen collection.
The British Museum has granted unprecedented permission for a specialist team to inspect antiquities and identify potentially stolen objects, according to ministers in Cambodia, as the country aims to secure the repatriation of its plundered artwork.
The V&A Museum has also given permission for inspections of its own collection which, like that of the British Museum, is suspected of containing objects fraudulently sold by late British art dealer Douglas Latchford.
Source: British Museum to be inspected for ‘looted’ Cambodian artefacts
