De-accessioning

The Art Gallery acquired the 13th-century Nepali temple strut (tunala or tundal) depicting a tree deity (shalabhanjika or yakshi) in 2000 as part of the bequest of Alex Biancardi (c1923–1998). The following year we became aware that it had been stolen in 1975 from Ratneshwar Temple in the historical city of Patan in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley.

The Art Gallery immediately indicated willingness to return the tundal. While ongoing and extensive discussions with Nepali heritage organisations and government representatives about its possible restitution took place, the sculpture remained in the care of the Art Gallery.

Despite the sculpture being included in numerous publications and remaining visible on the Art Gallery’s website, with its full provenance available online since 2016, no further enquires were forthcoming.

Impetus to return the tundal was reinvigorated in 2021 when the Art Gallery was contacted by a museum professional from Nepal who had seen the sculpture on display at the Art Gallery in 2019.

This development demonstrated that, while records are available online for all objects in the Art Gallery collection, works on display are more likely to attract attention, dialogue and additional provenance information.

In 2022, the tundal was deaccessioned in preparation for its voluntary return to Nepal. It was officially handed over on 16 May 2023 and will be held at the Patan Museum, where two other original struts from Ratneshwar Temple are installed in the museum’s Architecture Galleries.

Read more about the repatriation

Indian-born art dealer Subhash Kapoor operated Art of the Past, a New York commercial gallery specialising in Indian art. He sold and donated artworks to museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, the National Gallery of Australia, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

In 2011 Kapoor was arrested in Germany for alleged illegal export of antiquities. He was extradited to India in 2012. After ten years awaiting trial, on 1 November 2022 he was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, and of buying and dealing in stolen goods. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Meanwhile, in 2019 a complaint was filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charging Kapoor with 86 criminal counts of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, and conspiracy to defraud. He is believed to be connected with over 2600 illicitly trafficked objects. In July 2020 the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office requested extradition of Kapoor from India to the United States.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales acquired six works from Kapoor between 1994 and 2004. After entering the Art Gallery’s collection, these objects were made visible through the Art Gallery’s publications, exhibitions, website and annual reports, and in 2012, in consideration of the allegations against Kapoor, the Art Gallery published a web page dedicated to addressing provenance concerns with these objects.

In 2014, a sculpture of Ardhanarishvara (pictured below), which had been acquired by the Art Gallery in 2004, from Kapoor was voluntarily returned to India by the Australian Government.

On 19 October 2022, we de-accessioned three other sculptures (pictured below) in preparation for their voluntary return to India. The Art Gallery worked with the Indian High Commission in Canberra and the Indian Consulate General in Sydney to facilitate official cooperation and resolution.