[CPProt.net] Thailand: Panel to test crown in US

[MSN and CPProt list (Ton Cremers)]

 Panel to test crown in US 

TUL PINKAEW ACHARA & ASHAYAGACHAT 

 
A government team of experts will go to the United States to examine an
antique crown now owned by the Philadelphia Art Museum, with an eye to
having it returned to Thailand.

The Thai crown, believed to have belonged to King Borom Rajathiraj II and
thought to have been made in 1424, is on display at the Asian Art Museum in
San Francisco, along with 89 other surviving works from the Ayutthaya
period.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra learned about the crown after seeing a
television documentary about its theft, and asked his ministers to
investigate.

Culture Minister Anurak Jureemat said yesterday the committee would be
chaired by the permanent secretaries of the ministries of Culture and
Foreign Affairs and would comprise experts from state and private
organisations.

It would collect information on exhibits, antiques and historical artifacts
from museums and universities here before travelling to the United States to
test the headpiece to determine whether it is real.

The pure gold, 5kg, 19cm-tall crown reportedly disappeared in 1956 when the
ruins at Wat Ratchaburana and Wat Mahathat temples in Ayutthaya were robbed
by antiques thieves.

Several pieces were sold before the thieves were arrested, while the
remaining items are now on display at the Chao Sam Phraya Museum in
Ayutthaya province. 

Arak Sunghitakul, director-general of the Fine Arts Department, said there
were two possible ways of negotiating for the return of the crown.

''We could try to buy it back, or seek its return through negotiations. But
at this moment, the most important thing is to determine whether the prized
headpiece is real or not,'' he said.

The crown was on loan to the San Francisco-based Asian Art Museum from
Philadelphia's Museum of Art, which obtained the item at a Sotheby's auction
in 1982, said Mr Arak. 

Somlak Charoenpot, chief of the Office of the National Museum, said the
crown might be a replica or might have belonged to a different country, as
some of the characteristics were ''peculiar''.

The gold looked too bright for the Ayutthaya period, which used a darker
gold, and the crown was made using a different technique from the two on
display at the Chao Sam Phraya Museum.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/