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Nguyễn Duy Blog Coming Home – Emma Bunker (Part 2): Thursday, November 9, 2023
Coming Home – Emma Bunker (Part 2):
A gift to Cambodia by the then-feted and later-disgraced art dealer and collector, Douglas Latchford, in October 2002 of a looted Koh Ker statue of a Hunchback, must’ve made an impression on his partner-in-crime and accomplice Emma Bunker. She attended the hand-over at the National Museum in person. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the following year, again in 2008 and finally in 2013, the scholar made her own donations of Khmer antiquities to the Cambodian Government. This contemptible way of inveigling themselves into the hearts and minds of the Cambodian authorities was mirrored by their philanthropic gifts to other museums around the globe. The simple truth is that they had access to such a treasure trove of Khmer artifacts that they both made donations in order to curry favour and to maintain their public reputation as generous patrons of the arts. Their decades-long deception was further enhanced with the publication of three scholarly go-to books on Khmer antiquities, with the duo being regarded as the most knowledgeable scholars on all things Khmer. Their deceitful ways finally came to an end when Latchford was indicted in late 2019 by US federal prosecutors, though Bunker was never charged. Latchford, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, died in August 2020 before he could stand trial, and Bunker died six months later, aged 90.
In 2013, Bunker made a donation of seven Khmer antiquities to the Cambodian authorities, without any provenance provided aside from a throwaway suggestion that they were bought at commercial art galleries in Bangkok. Any provenance details provided by Bunker or Latchford should be taken with a pinch of salt. One of the best pieces of the gifts was a copper alloy Umamahesvara – which is Shiva and his wife Uma seated on the bull Nandin – from the twelfth century. It’s a very rare piece, with Shiva wearing a cylindrical chignon cover with a diadem on his forehead. He wears a pleated sampot can kpin with a large fold at his waist and a floral shaped butterfly bow at the back indicating a typical Angkor Wat art style. Uma is wearing a long pleated sampot with a large fold at her waist and has a central pleat with a fishtail end that turns to the right. Shiva is holding two attributes; a pole in right hand and trident (broken top part), in the left. His left leg is crossed and placed on the right knee, while Uma is seated on the bull behind him. She is holding the stem of a lotus bud in her right hand. The bull, Shiva’s mount, wears a collar of small bells, and is depicted on a flat integrated metal base in a walking position. Another excellent gift came in the form of a bronze Dancing Hevajra Mandala. Dated to the early 13th century, the deity Hevajra is dancing whilst trampling on a corpse, surrounded by eight female yoginis also dancing. Important in the Tantric Buddhist cult, Hevajra has sixteen hands and heads, each hand is holding attributes, as do the yoginis, though the attributes are difficult to recognize due to the quality of the casting. These two pieces were both featured in the Latchford-Bunker book, Khmer Bronzes, in 2011.
Also included in Bunker’s donation in 2013 were a pair of substantial U-shaped bronze earrings, with hollowed spaces at their center, which would’ve decorated statues of the gods, rather than humans. A dagger or short sword, some 32 centimeters long, has a handsome bronze hilt and a corroded forged iron blade. It was prominent enough to make an appearance in the Latchford-Bunker book, Adoration and Glory in 2004. Two gilded bronze belts, a bronze ring and an attractive gold-ended pendant were the remainder of the seven donations made by Emma Bunker in 2013.Credit by: Mr Andy Brouwer
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#Khmer Culture