But establishing who those
owners are can be complicated, the national
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam argues.
It says at least 4,000 objects in its
collections have clear ties to the country's
colonial empire, which spanned some 300 years
from the mid-17th century and whose main centres
of power were in Southeast Asia and the
Caribbean.
The Rijksmuseum's Head of History, Valika
Smeulders, welcomed plans by the government to
right what an independent commission this month
called the "historical wrong" of continuing to
keep valued objects taken by force during that
era.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Oct/13/images/ads/current/christianvillage_sda_SPONSOR_042720.png)
"The museum is really bringing in new knowledge,
new voices, new expertise, new ways of dealing
with the past and looking at these objects...
We're trying to bring down the walls of the
museum," she said.
The Dutch plan to set up an independent research
centre as a database for colonial-era art,
including where it came from and how it was
obtained, and assemble panels to handle
restitution requests.
And that, says Smeulders, is where difficulties
may arise.
The 36-carat diamond, for instance, was looted
in 1875 by Dutch troops from of the Sultanate of
Bandjamasin, now part of Indonesia on the island
of Borneo.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Oct/13/images/ads/current/debbiesflora_lda_092320.png) Governments in both countries
have changed many times since then.
"In this case, would you return it to the
country? Or would you return it to the
descendants of the Sultan," she said. "And who
would you do the talking with?"
The blue and gold Canon of Kandy, meanwhile, was
seized in 1765 by soldiers of the Dutch East
Company and displayed in the Prince of Orange's
cabinet of rareties.
It will go back to Sri Lanka next year, but
initially just as part of a seminar with
historians and art experts who will debate its
provenance, along with dozens of other objects.
The Dutch moves to return seized art are running
in parallel with similar initiatives in France
and Germany, and broadly follow the 1998
Washington Principles that began the process of
returning art looted by the Nazis during World
War Two to Jewish heirs.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by John
Stonestreet)
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