VA Art Museum Returning 'Wounded Indian' Statue To Boston: Reports

NORFOLK, VA — A Virginia art museum agreed to return a life-size statue of a wounded Indigenous warrior to a Boston organization following a decades-long dispute and an investigation by the FBI, according to multiple reports.

Known as "The Wounded Indian," the statue was sculpted by Peter Stephenson from a single block of white Vermont marble, the New York Times reported. He completed the work in 1850.

The sculpture sat on display at Mechanics Hall in Boston for more than 60 years after it was acquired by the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, an organization founded by Revolutionary War figure Paul Revere in 1795 to provide vocational training to poor students and citizens. After the MCMA sold the building in 1958, they thought the sculpture was destroyed in the move, according to the Times.

Thirty years later, it reappeared at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, reports said. And after years of contentious talks, negotiations, and federal investigations, the sculpture will likely return to Boston by month's end.

"Ultimately, the leadership of Chrysler did the right thing not just for the MCMA and their own institution, but also for the art field as a whole," Attorney Greg Werkheiser, who represents the MCMA, told the Boston Globe. "A visible return like this, after so many contentious years, will inspire other institutions that it’s rarely too late to correct a historic wrong."

In a statement provided to the Globe, Chrysler director Erik H. Neil said, "The Chrysler is pleased with the amicable resolution, and we wish the best for the MCMA."

It wasn't until 1999 that members of MCMA discovered the sculpture at the Chrysler Museum, the Washington Post reported. When contacted by the association, museum officials said they bought the statue in 1989 from New York art collector James Ricau. At the same time, the museum worked behind the scenes to determine how Ricau obtained it, reports said.

“The idea was that we would do it on an amicable basis,” Peter Lemonias, a past president of MCMA, told the Globe. “Our feeling at the time was that we could leave it there, but we would like to have it displayed in Boston."

The association hired lawyers in 2020, according to reports. When Chrysler officials refused to cover costs to transport the statue to Boston temporarily for a brief exhibition, the association contacted the FBI.

In a statement obtained by the Post, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Boston field office thanked the agency’s Art Crime Team for assisting in the case.

“Works of art hold a special place in our society, and FBI Boston is proud to have been able to help facilitate the return of this 19th-century statue to its rightful owner. This case also highlights the important role the public plays in assisting our recovery efforts,” the statement read.