2009 auction of Old Summer Palace bronze heads

Auction of 18th-century fountainheads thumb|right|Replica of the original bronze Rat figure, as it existed before the destruction of the Old Summer Palace, on display at the palace grounds In February 2009, two bronze head sculptures looted from the Old Summer Palace during the Second Opium War in 1860 were auctioned by international auction house Christie's in Paris. On 25 February 2009, the disputed 18th-century fountainheads — heads of a Rat and a Rabbit of the Chinese zodiac — were sold to Cai Mingchao (蔡銘超) for 28 million euros as part of an auction of art works owned by the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent. Cai is an adviser to China's National Treasures Fund, which seeks to retrieve looted treasures by foreign invaders during the Qing dynasty. He then refused to pay the sum bid, claiming that he was bidding on moral and patriotic grounds. Auction thumb|Replicas of the 12 heads China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage had condemned the sale of the two bronzes and said it would affect Christie's interests in the country, ordering tighter inspections of all cultural relics that the auction house seeks to bring in or out of mainland China. It stated that the auction of the bronzes "goes against the spirit of relevant international conventions and the international common understanding that cultural relics should be returned to their country of origin."https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6962113 China Punishes Christie's for Auction of Relics GILLIAN WONG Associated Press Writer BEIJING February 26, 2009 abc News 2009-03-01 October 2010 H3llBot A press conference was held in Beijing by Cai Mingchao, in which Mr. Cai told reporters that he would not be paying for the heads.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7918128.stm China 'patriot' sabotages auction 2 March 2009 BBC 2009-03-01 2009-03-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20090302235246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7918128.stm live Reactions in France The then-owner of the bronze relics, Pierre Berge told reporter over a French radio interview: "All they (Chinese) have to do is to declare they are going to apply human rights, give the Tibetans back their freedom and agree to accept the Dalai Lama on their territory, [...] If they do that, I would be very happy to go myself and bring these two Chinese heads to put them in the Summer Palace in Beijing."http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-zodiac24-2009feb24,0,936006.story Bronze heads gnaw at China The nation resents paying high prices to reclaim looted artworks such as the 1700s rat and rabbit. Barbara Demick Barbara Demick February 24, 2009 LA Times 2009-03-01 2009-02-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20090227084920/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-zodiac24-2009feb24,0,936006.story live Ma Zhouxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman ridiculed Mr. Bergé's remarks: "To infringe upon Chinese people’s cultural rights on the pretext of human rights is just ridiculous. In modern history, Western imperial powers have looted a lot of Chinese cultural relics. These cultural relics should all be returned."NYTimes.com "NYTimes.com https://web.archive.org/web/20220930230637/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/europe/27auction.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss 2022-09-30 " China Fails to Halt Sale of Looted Relics at Paris Auction Retrieved on 2009-02-26 Reactions in China China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage has condemned the proceedings of the auction.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/26/content_10901300.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20090301031650/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/26/content_10901300.htm 2009-03-01 China tightens control on Christie's after auction_English_Xinhua On 27 February, the Chinese government issued tighter customs rules against Christie's in response to the auction.http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=877853&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_world&cate_rss=WORLD_eng China punishes Christie's for auction of relics - Taiwan News Online 2009-03-05 2011-07-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20110725202208/http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=877853&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_world&cate_rss=WORLD_eng live Among the Chinese public, news of the auction led to some netizens in China expressing anti-French sentiments towards the French people.http://www.chinasmack.com/stories/chinese-reactions-to-auction-of-stolen-bronze-relics/ Chinese Reactions To Auction Of Stolen Bronze Relics - ChinaSMACK 2009-03-03 2009-03-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20090304052518/http://www.chinasmack.com//stories//chinese-reactions-to-auction-of-stolen-bronze-relics/ live Ren Xiaohong, a lawyer for the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APACE), filed a lawsuit against the auction taking place.Paris court allows auction of Chinese artifacts https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/24/content_7508357.htm China Daily 23 July 2026 24 February 2009 The government of the People's Republic of China has not made plans to purchase the artifacts, as doing so would acknowledge that the bronze heads were taken legally. Niu Xianfeng, deputy director of the Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Program said: "Though it hurts to pay for something that belongs to you, if we want to recover relics sometimes we have to buy them."CSmonitor.com. "CSmonitor.com https://web.archive.org/web/20090223003114/http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0220/p07s04-woap.html 2009-02-23 ." China protests Christie's auction in Paris of relics. Retrieved on 2009-02-20. Xie Chensheng, the doyen of Chinese cultural relics scholars, said "If your belongings are stolen and you see them in the market the next day you do not buy them back. You call the police." The bronze heads owned by the Chinese are on display at the Poly Art Museum in Beijing. Return to China The Rat and Rabbit bronze heads were eventually returned to China, donated by François Pinault in a ceremony on June 28, 2013. The bronze heads are housed in the National Museum of China.Jones Terril Yue https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-sculptures-idUSBRE95R0HW20130628 Two bronze animal heads, stolen 153 years ago, returned to China Reuters 28 June 2013 30 June 2017 See also Second Opium War and section Burning of the Summer Palaces James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin Haiyantang Looting CZ12 – a Jackie Chan film in which the statues are integral part of the plot References External links Old Summer Palace opposes auction of bronze heads - China.org.cn Auction of looted sculptures hurts national sentiment - Newsgd.com Category:Old Summer Palace Auction Of Old Summer Palace Bronze Heads, 2009 Category:2009 in Paris Category:Christie's Category:History of auctions Category:Art and cultural repatriation Category:Qing dynasty art