Douglas Latchford

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Douglas Arthur Joseph Latchford (15 October 1931 - 2 August 2020) was a British adventurer, art dealer, author, and alleged smuggler.[1][2][3]

Biography[]

Latchford was born on 15 October 1931 in Mumbai, India, which was at the time under the British Raj. He was educated at Brighton College in England before returning to India shortly before Independence.

Latchford initially worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Mumbai. He moved to Bangkok in 1956, and in 1963 established a drug distribution company. Latchford also invested profitably in Thailand land development and became a Thai citizen in 1968.[4] He was briefly married to a Thai woman and took a Thai name, Pakpong Kriangsak.[4]

A long-time devotee of the sport of bodybuilding, Latchford became a patron of the sport in Thailand and was the honorary president of the Thai Bodybuilding Association from 2016 until his death.[4]

Antiquities trade[]

A controversial figure, Latchford was best known as a collector of Cambodian antiquities. According to his obituary in The New York Times, Latchford was "a cultured accumulator of museum-quality Khmer sculptures and jewels", whilst The Diplomat reported that, due to his leading position in the illegal antiquities trade of the Khmer Rouge, "no single figure looms as large over a nation’s wholesale pillage."[5] Nonetheless, the Cambodian government awarded Latchford a Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Monisaraphon in 2008. He co-authored three books on Khmer antiquities with academic Emma Bunker.[2]

In the 1970s, Latchford became one of the leading suppliers of Cambodian art, selling to museums and private collections in Europe and North America, including the Metropolitan.[2] He kept the best pieces for himself and his personal collection is rumored to rival that of the National Museum of Cambodia.[5] When his daughter inherited the collection and donated it in full to Cambodia, it contained 125 pieces and was valued at $50m.[6] Latchford liked to see himself as saving works of art that had been abandoned and were at risk during Cambodia's turbulent civil wars, although this viewpoint was contrasted by academics who alleged that several of Latchford's antiquities lacked a clear provenance. Latchford denied any wrongdoing, and gathered his collection long before legislation barring Latchford's practice of buying directly from farmers and dealers in Thailand.[2] He also insisted that if the antiquities were not removed from Cambodia, “they would likely have been shot up for target practice by the Khmer Rouge.”[6] In November 2019, Latchford, by then comatose, was charged by prosecutors in New York with falsifying the provenance of Khmer works of art, but the case ended with his death.[4]

Family and donation[]

Following his death in August 2020, although the US indictment had ended with his death, Latchford's daughter Nawapan Kriangsak decided to give his collection to Cambodia.[7] Kriangsak had initiated discussions to return the whole collection, valued at over $50m, to the Kingdom two years prior to Latchford's death, and the transfer of ownership was dated 18 September 2020.[8][9] The collection will be exhibited at the National Museum of Cambodia as the Latchford Collection.[10]

Selected publications[]

  • Adoration and glory: The golden age of Khmer art (2003)
  • Khmer gold gifts for the gods (2008)
  • Khmer bronzes: New interpretations of the past (2011)

References[]

  1. ^ Jacobs, Julia; Mashberg, Tom (November 27, 2019). "Antiquities Expert Charged With Trafficking in Cambodian Artifacts" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Noce, Vincent. "'Adventurer scholar Douglas Latchford dies in Bangkok, aged 89". theartnewspaper.com. The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  3. ^ Smith, Nicola; Ensor, Josie (August 15, 2020). "Calls to repatriate relics after death of controversial British art dealer 'Dynamite Doug'" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Mashberg, Tom. "Douglas A.J. Latchford, Khmer Antiquities Expert, Dies at 88". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Davis, Tess. "Douglas Latchford: The Man Who Pillaged Cambodia". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Mashberg, Tom (2021-01-29). "With a Gift of Art, a Daughter Honors, if Not Absolves, Her Father". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  7. ^ Mashberg, Tom (2021-01-29). "With a Gift of Art, a Daughter Honors, if Not Absolves, Her Father". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  8. ^ McGreevy, Nora. "Collection of Antiquities Dealer Accused of Looting Will Return to Cambodia". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  9. ^ Vichey, Sor. "Ministry of Culture Confirms the Return of Khmer Cultural Objects". Agence Kampuchea Presse. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  10. ^ "The Daughter of a Collector Charged With Trafficking Looted Antiquities Has Returned Her Father's $50 Million Hoard to Cambodia". artnet News. 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2021-02-08.


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