A glossy catalogue for the forthcoming exhibition - Royal Bronzes of Angkor, an Art of the Divine – will be published just before the exhibition opens on 30 April, lasting until 8 September 2025, at the Guimet Museum in Paris. In the French language, it will be 304 pages in length with 270 illustrations, costing 39 Euros. The actual cover has not yet been released but we know of some of the bronzes that will be included in the exhibition, which aims to create a chronological journey through the art of bronze in Cambodia, from the 9th century to the present day, through a journey leading the visitor to the major sites of Khmer Heritage. The exhibition will host nearly 250 bronze works of art, 126 on temporary loan from the National Museum of Cambodia and fifty from the Guimet collection itself.
One example that will grace the exhibition is an outstanding bronze that is a fairly recent arrival in Cambodia. It was only returned home in October 2021, directly from the Douglas Latchford personal collection. After his death in 2020, Latchford’s daughter Nawapan Kriangsak, agreed that his private haul of over 100 pieces, valued at around USD50 million, that he kept in his homes in Bangkok, London and storage facilities elsewhere, would be returned to Cambodia. This bronze male deity, which could represent royalty or someone of high importance rather than a god, is dated to the 11th century and the Baphuon-era, celebrated by many as the height of the Khmer Empire’s output of statuary, and was included in an initial batch of five sculptures to be returned. Without any insight into its provenance, its original location remains a mystery. The deity has a slim body with a typical hip-hugging Baphuon-style sampot tied at the front and an exceptionally-large butterfly knot at the rear. He is sat with his left leg pulled up on top of his pedestal seat which is decorated in large lotus leaves. His right hand is positioned in front of the body and would’ve certainly held an attribute of perhaps a golden lotus stem. He has beauty lines under his chest and neck and a wonderfully distinctive crown of matted hair, in the design of the flower Pkha Chan, raising into an intricate chignon with hair tresses. The face is equally unique, with full lips, a moustache and heavy eyebrows, wide-open eyes and long pendant earrings. Indentations on the face indicate precious gems would’ve been inserted into his eyes, his moustache and above the eyebrows. He is 58.5 centimeters in height and a one-of-a-kind bronze of magnificent quality. It's still on display at the National Museum, but be quick before it heads off to Paris.Credit By :Andy Brouwer