Old statues recently returned to Yemen are now on loan to the Met

A collection of ancient stone and bronze sculptures recently repatriated to Yemen from New Zealand are now on indefinite loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The 14 old sculptures were voluntarily returned to Yemen from the private Hague family collection in New Zealand, per a statement from the New York City Museum. After they returned, the Republic of Yemen asked the Met if the artifacts could be preserved, studied and cataloged in the museum until Yemeni officials requested their return.

This long-term loan comes after Yemen and the Met formalized a partnership in 2023, allowing the museum to continue to maintain and display two ancient stone works that it had repatriated to the republic from its own collection. The Met entered into a similar loan agreement with Nigeria in 2021 Art news‘ reports Angelica Villa.

“Although the current situation does not allow the immediate repatriation of these artifacts to Yemen, we are grateful that they will be preserved and studied at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,” said Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, Ambassador of Yemen to the United States . , says in the statement.

The current situation Al-Hadhrami refers to is the ongoing civil war in the country. Nine years later, the conflict has displaced 4.5 million people and left 21.6 million people (two-thirds of Yemen’s population) in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. United Nations Report.

Yemen has similar agreements with other museums, such as Smithsonian The magazine’s Christopher Parker reported this last year. In 2023, both the Smithsonian Institution and that of England Victoria and Albert Museum agreed to take custody of the Yemeni artifact collections.

“This is yet another example of our growing and essential cooperation to protect Yemen’s cultural heritage,” Al-Hadhrami’s statement continued.

The latest collection of artifacts on loan to the Met dates from the first century BC to the third century AD, according to the museum, and is likely from the Bayhan district of Shabwa Governorate, a region that includes the ancient city ​​of Timnah.

Most of the objects appear to have been made for funeral ceremonies. The collection includes funerary stelae, busts or statues, and includes much of the translucent golden-yellow calcite alabaster commonly found in the funerary art of ancient southwestern Arabia.

“The Met is honored to be entrusted with this remarkable collection of objects,” Max Hollein, CEO of the museum, said in the statement. “This loan represents the Met’s continued commitment to international collaboration and to the protection and preservation of artistic and cultural heritage from around the world.”