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Looted antiques on display, at home China
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2004-11-19 09:15
Four 18th century sculptures which had been looted by British and French
troops some 140 years ago from the imperial garden Yuanmingyuan in Beijing, went
on display under tight security Thursday at the ongoing Shenzhen
cultural fair.
A visitor examines
closely a piece of looted bull-head-shaped sculpture at
Shenzhen culture fair November 18, 2004. [Shenzhen
Daily] |
The exhibition, located at the Shenzhen Broadcast, TV and Radio Building west
of the China Hi-Tech Fair Exhibition Center, features four bronze national
treasures _ the Pig Head, Cattle Head, Monkey Head and Tiger Head. The
collection is owned by the State-owned China Poly Group.
The group bought the tiger head for HK$1.98 million from Sotheby's and the
monkey and ox heads for HK$2.05 million from Christie's in auctions in Hong Kong
in May 2000.
|
The monkey
head
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The tiger head
| The Pig Head was donated to the group by Macao
entrepreneur Stanley Ho in 2003, who bouhgt the sculpture from a U.S. art
collector at a cost of 6 million yuan (about US$722,892).
The bronze heads were part of a water clock featuring the 12 animals of the
Chinese zodiac.
The clock was a highlight of the baroque, European-style palaces that once
dotted the opulent gardens of Yuan Ming Yuan, a summer pleasure ground for the
imperial court built in the 1740s.
In 1860, during the second Opium War, British and French troops occupied the
area, looted its treasures and set fire to the palaces.
Today, only ruins remain. A controversial rebuilding plan for the garden has
been proposed by Chinese experts.
China Poly Group exhibited the treasures in Hong Kong and several other
cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and Taiwan.
The exhibition in Shenzhen will last until Nov. 22. To ensure the safety of
the priceless artifacts, organizers deployed a large force of security guards at
the exhibition hall, with an armed policeman guarding the exhibits.
Tickets are available for 30 yuan each at branches of the Agricultural Bank
of China or at the China Hi-Tech Fair Exhibition Center ticket office in
Shenzhen.
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