D.A. Bragg Announces Return Of Two Antiquities To The People Of Nepal

Pictured: "Gilt Bronze Padmapani"

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the return of two antiquities collectively valued at more than $2.5 million to the people of Nepal. The statues were recovered pursuant to multiple criminal investigations into trafficking networks including that of NANCY WIENER, who was previously convicted by the Office of antiquities trafficking. The pieces were returned at a ceremony with Mr. Dadhiram Bhandari, Consul General of Nepal in New York.

"In the past two years we have successfully repatriated more than 20 antiquities to the people of Nepal, all of which have come from well-known trafficking networks that we continue to dismantle. We hope to hold additional ceremonies with our counterparts in Nepal in the coming months and years," said District Attorney Bragg.

"The return of our antiquities, Padmapani and Nrityadevi, to Nepal is a testament to the excellent cooperation between Nepal and the United States in protecting cultural heritage. We express our sincere appreciation to the New York County District Attorney's Office and all partners whose commitment and dedication made this historic repatriation possible," said Consul General Bhandari.

The two objects being repatriated today are:

• The gilt bronze figure of Padmapani, dated to the 13th century C.E., was being actively worshipped when it was photographed in 1971 in the Tham-Bahil Monastery (Vikramashila Mahavihara) in Kathmandu. Shortly thereafter it was stolen, smuggled out of Nepal, and next appeared in the possession of the New York-based gallerist Doris Wiener. After Doris's death, her daughter and convicted trafficker NANCY WIENER consigned the Padmapani for sale to Christie's New York in 2012 with false provenance. A private collector purchased the Padmapani from Christie's and ultimately surrendered it to the ATU in 2025.
• The polychromed wooden Nrtyadevi depicts a goddess of dance and dates to the 16th century C.E. The statue was photographed during the 1969 Bahi Deo Boyegu festival in the i-Baha Bahi Monastery in Patan, Nepal. It was then stolen and smuggled out of Nepal by a local dealer, who hand-carried it to New York in the early 1980's. It was purchased from this dealer by a New York-based private collector who later donated it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016. The Nrtyadevi remained in the Met's collection until earlier this year when it was seized by this Office.

Pictured: "Polychromed wooden Nrtyadevi"

This Office's Antiquities Trafficking Unit has now convicted 18 individuals of cultural-property-related crimes; recovered more than 6,350 cultural treasures, including rare books, works of art, and antiquities, valued at more than $490 million; and returned almost 6,000 of those so far to 38 countries. The extradition of another 7 alleged traffickers is pending.

The investigations were conducted by Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel Matthew Bogdanos along with Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Studley; Investigative Analyst Hilary Chassé; District Attorney Investigator John Paul Labbat; Special Agent Brenton Easter of Homeland Security Investigations; and former Investigative Analyst Charlotte Looram. Investigative support was provided by Sanjay Adhikari of the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign; Lost Arts of Nepal, Sarita Subedi of the Department of Archaeology of Nepal's Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Civil Aviation; and Dr. Erin Thompson.

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