The Latchford Collection #3:Continuing my series of photographs of Douglas Latchford’s private collection which he kept in his Charles Street apartment in London’s ultra-exclusive Mayfair area, this statue of Prajnaparamita, adorned with a gold tiara and necklaces, was one of two such goddesses pictured in 2014 in his possession. It’s important to remember that Latchford, a British-born art dealer, had homes in London and Bangkok, which is where he based his smuggling network, organizing the looting of temples in Cambodia and northeast Thailand before arranging for the dispersal of stone and bronze sculptures around the world to museums, private collectors and auction houses. He began his nefarious activities in the 1960s and continued until his death in 2020. With the aid of key accomplices in the art world, he sold thousands of artifacts totaling millions of dollars, whilst masquerading as a respectable collector-cum-scholar, and keeping some of the finest quality artworks for himself. His daughter, Julia Copleston, has promised to return his personal hoard of Khmer artifacts to Cambodia, with a handful of stone statues already returned as well as a large cache of gold jewelry pieces, including the tiara and necklaces with pendants shown here. As for the sandstone Prajnaparamita, in the likeness of King Jayavarman 7th’s first wife, Jayarajadevi, its original and current locations are unknown.
Of the more than forty stone and bronze artworks photographed in his home, plus many pieces of jewelry, more than half were featured in the three catalogue-style books which Latchford authored and self-published with scholar Emma Bunker (Adoration and Glory 2004; Khmer Gold 2008; Khmer Bronzes 2011). With hindsight, their inclusion gave these Khmer antiquities a veneer of legitimacy and a respectable provenance as Latchford sought to sell them to private collectors. Previously, just a few photographs of his personal hoard of sculptures had appeared in magazine articles for Apollo and Bangkok Post, so most of these statues have never been made public before. This particular Prajnaparamita however was one that appeared in an article for Apollo magazine in 2008. It was also exhibited in his book Adoration and Glory in 2004, noted as being in a private collection, which turned out to be his own, but without any provenance as to its original temple home, from which it was stolen. Here’s the description from the book:
This pious kneeling female figure is thought to portray the physical appearance of Queen Jayarajadevi, the first and well-loved wife of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218), in the guise of Prajnaparamita. Numerous versions of this image have been found in temple ruins throughout Cambodia, and several more examples without provenance grace public and private collections around the world. None are identical, but display minor differences, as one might expect with images that appear to have been produced in quantity to satisfy a contemporary demand. According to an inscription on a stele from the Phimeanakas, Queen Jayarajadevi’s older sister, Indradevi, became Jayavarman’s second wife on the queen’s death. In her sister’s honour, Indradevi had many images erected, portraying Jayarajadevi in an attitude of humility and meditation. The present sculpture shows an intensely spiritual woman with a frail body who is believed to have undergone severe austerities when she prayed for the safe and successful return of her husband, Jayavarman VII, from war with the neighbouring Cham.
A tiny Amitabha Buddha image marking the front of the chignon-cover has raised the suggestion that these kneeling female images could be identified as either Prajnaparamita, the spiritual mother of all Buddhas, or Tara, the companion of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Zephir points out that the kneeling posture is unusual for either deity. Based on the Phimeanakas inscription and the plurality of kneeling female images, it seems reasonable to accept this image as Jayarajadevi in the guise of Prajnaparamita, the kneeling pose being an innovation created to meet the individual criteria of the subject. Prajnaparamita’s popularity during the Khmer Empire and the lack of religious interest in Tara would appear to preclude the figure’s identity as Tara. The figure is clothed in a sampot, one end of which forms a wide folded panel, made from a cloth decorated with an overall design of flower and geometric forms. The cloth sash has matching designs. The facial features are delicate and display a spiritual expression. The inner rims of the ears are beautifully scalloped. In keeping with her ascetic, pious nature, her ears are not pierced to hold lavish jewelry.
The figure kneels on a base that has ragged edges and a tapered square pointed tang underneath. The present image is one of a number of similar kneeling female images found in northwest Cambodia that all have the same ragged base and pendant tang. The present piece has been extensively cleaned and is remarkably free of microbiological deposits. However, several accretions, probably root fragments, were observed on the side of the face, and the presence of a ficus-tree root embedded in the base suggests long-term burial within a collapsed building rather than underground. [Extract from Adoration and Glory].
The Latchford Collection #3, part 2:
The Prajnaparamita sculpture pictured in Douglas Latchford’s Mayfair apartment in 2014, which I highlighted in a post earlier today, was bedecked with gold jewelry and it’s important to note that at least two of these key pieces were returned to Cambodia in February. A hoard of 77 items of Angkorian gold and gem-encrusted jewelry including crowns, belts, necklaces and earrings were part of the treasure trove that Latchford held in his private collection before his death in August 2020. The jewelry was handed over to Cambodian government representatives in London, led by HE Hun Many and brought back to the kingdom. Precisely when and how Latchford obtained these precious items isn’t recorded, and like all of his collection, their original temple location isn’t known either, though he included them in his books, Adoration and Glory and Khmer Gold, in 2004 and 2008 respectively. The vivid tiara is made from hammered gold and is fairly simplistic in its style, likely dating from the late tenth century and made specifically to be worn by a sacred statue for ceremonial purposes, rather than a human. The gold amulet and chain necklace are likely from a century later, according to Latchford’s explanation
The description of the chain and amulet in Adoration and Glory is as follows: A gold amulet (height 7.4 cm) hangs from this gold chain necklace (length 80 cm) formed by spooling. This amulet is lost-wax cast in the shape of two Naga-heads joined at the neck, which has a wonderfully spiky appearance. The amulet is adorned with a rock-crystal gem set in a tiered conical setting and held in place by six prongs. Amulets must have been considered auspicious as they are frequently found on images from the tenth century onward. Apsaras are often shown with them hanging between their breasts in bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat. The chain appears to have the same type of chain and closure system as a previous chain that is dated to the late eleventh century. It would seem plausible that the present chain and amulet are roughly contemporary or slightly later in date. [Extract from Adoration and Glory].
