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No Messing with Our Heads

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Twenty-eight million euros was the winning bid for the two bronze animal heads. Once prized imperial treasures of Emperor Qianlong, the two heads, one rabbit and one rat, featured at a Christie’s sale in Paris in 2009.

But this time, it was not their beauty or value that drew attention, but the controversy that surrounded their sale.

With their perky ears and marble-like eyes, the rabbit and rat heads once belonged to a set of twelve zodiac animals forming an elaborate fountain at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The two heads, designed by Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione, were undisputedly looted during the Second Opium War when British and French soldiers ransacked the palace in 1860, pillaging and dispersing its myriad treasures.

Besides the bronze zodiac heads were some of China’s most precious porcelains as well as the oldest extant Chinese painting, now in the collection of the British Museum. The first breed of Pekinese dog to reach Britain was also taken by a soldier and presented as a gift to Queen Victoria, tastefully named “Looty”.

But in 2009, when a hefty multi-million euro sum was bid for the rabbit and rat heads, the anonymous telephone bidder had no intention of paying up. Later revealed as Cai Mingchao, his bid was a protest, an act of patriotism. “I think any Chinese person would have stood up at that moment,” said the collector, “it was just that the opportunity came to me. I was merely fulfilling my responsibilities.”

The sale stirred anger among Chinese and sparked a sensitive debate about the ownership of looted Summer Palace treasures, not to mention dampening diplomatic relations between China and France, which were already under some strain.

So why did Christie’s allow the sale to go ahead in the first place? The auction house argued that the heads, which were part of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent’s collection, had changed hands multiple times throughout the twentieth century which therefore legitimised their provenance and deemed them fit for sale.

But even if they weren’t “eligible for sale”, what on Earth is one expected to do with an object, let alone two, like that? Knowingly stolen a century and a half ago, worth a fair pop and, very inconveniently, on your grand estate. Do you keep it hidden and shove responsibility onto the next generation? Or do you try to sell it, make a nice wee profit and exile to a tropical island?

Another option of course would be to give it back. And given back they were, just as Mr Cai wanted.

The owner of Christie’s auction house François-Henri Pinault ensured the rabbit and rat heads were returned to China where they are now on display at the National Museum of China.

It was a wise move, but a tactical one too. French billionaire Pinault also owns a number of major fashion brands including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent whose market potential is vast amidst China’s thirst for luxury brands. It is perhaps not coincidental either that Christie’s is the only foreign auction house in mainland China with a license to operate independently.

So it was a happy ending for all. China recovered two more of the twelve heads, diplomatic relations improved and Christie’s came out a hero. But beneath the surface it is still not so clear, who messed more with whose heads?

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