The Royal Way
StR,—The red sandstone statues of Bantei Srei, which the young Andre Malraux tried unsuccessfully to steal, are in the opinion of many who have seen them (including myself) the most lovely of all ancient Cambodian carvings. They can certainly be num- bered among the foremost art treasures of Asia. It is a little fantastic to state, as Martin Turnell does in his review in your September 9 issue, that Malraux did indeed attempt to cart them off, but was guilty of no 'criminal offence'!
Among the 'corrupt' French officials against whom Malraux later crusaded in the pages of Indochine, were presumably those members of the Ecole Fran- cais d'Extreme-Orient who spent long, loving years restoring the Cambodian (or Khmer) monuments to their present condition, and who took steps to see that vandals and treasure-hunters should be kept at bay.
Malraux's wife has been reported elsewhere as hav- ing defended his action, claiming that when one loves something sufficiently, it gives one certain rights to unorthodox behaviour. The next time you visit the Louvre and fall in love with da Vinci's smiling lady, try walking out with her, and see how far that line gets you with the French!
The carvings at Bantei Srei (not far from the Angkor group in Seam Reap province) have recently suffered ne v damage at the hands of thieves, who these (says are presumably motivated by the high prices obtainable for Khmer carvings in Bangkok and elsewhere. This time the desecrators just might have been poor, illiterate Cambodian peasants with no pretensions to taste or culture—which would give them a little excuse.
ROBERT M. PRINGLE (Cornell University research student in South-East Asian History) London House, Mecklenburgh Square. London, WC I
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