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Thieves clean up gold collection
Precious historic collections from the 8th and 9th centuries — ranging from gold jewelry, gold plates and statues — have vanished from Sonobudoyo Museum in Yogyakarta
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recious historic collections from the 8th and 9th centuries — ranging from gold jewelry, gold plates and statues — have vanished from Sonobudoyo Museum in Yogyakarta.
Yogyakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Atang Heradi said Friday his office was investigating Tuesday night’s theft at the museum and had questioned four museum officials, including head curator Martono.
“This case is a challenge for the police. We will thoroughly investigate this case,” he said.
Eighty-seven pieces from the museum’s collections, including gold jewelry and statues, were stolen from three of the museum’s glass display cabinets on Tuesday night.
Martono said after the questioning that the stolen collections were originals, not replicas.
The gold collections, he said, were placed and displayed in the room, which were not accessible to museum visitors without permission.
Even with permission, a security guard would accompany visitors to view the collections, he added.
Martono said that the room was also equipped with a CCTV camera, but that it was 10 years old.
“The camera was a manual one, not a digital one. It cannot cover the entire room,” he said.
The museum, set up in 1935 and located close to the Yogyakarta Palace, sees 100 visitors during weekdays and up to 2,000 on holidays.
Responding to the case, Yogyakarta Cultural Agency head Djoko Dwiyanto voiced his suspicion that the burglary might involve both professional art thieves and collectors.
“Usually, prior to a theft, there is an order from either a trader or a collector [for certain art objects].”
He said historic collections were quite marketable and that not all traders or collectors could afford them due to the high prices and special expertise required to conduct the purchase.
The police, however, said their investigation had not yet focused on collectors of antiques and historic collections.
Gadjah Mada University archeologist Inajati Adrisijanti said the stolen gold collections from the 8th and 9th century Mataram kingdom’s Hindu period were priceless.
