Chinese Yuanmingyuan Bronze Relics
Description:
Yuanmingyuan Bronze Heads
Case Status: Some objects relinquished
Year Claim Initiated: 2003
Year Claim Resolved: 2013
Means of Resolution: Sua sponte donation
Complainant Name: China
Complainant Nation: China
Complainant Nation Economy: In Transition
Complainant Type: Public: Government
Respondent Name: Christie's Auction House
Respondent Nation: United Kingdom
Respondent Nation Economy: Developed
Respondent Type: Private: Institution
Reference Links:
Files:
Editor's Notes:
"In April 2013: François-Henri Pinault, chief executive officer of Kering, the company that owns Christie’s, accompanied the French President François Hollande on his first visit to China. Pinault, who had acquired the bronze heads from Bergé for an undisclosed sum, made an offer to China for their return as a gift to strengthen diplomatic and trade relations.
On June 28, 2013: Pinault officially returned the heads to China in a high-profile ceremony at the National Museum of China opposite Tiananmen Square.
N.B. There are purportedly millions of other objects looted from the Yuanmingyuan with whereabouts still unknown.
"
On June 28, 2013: Pinault officially returned the heads to China in a high-profile ceremony at the National Museum of China opposite Tiananmen Square.
N.B. There are purportedly millions of other objects looted from the Yuanmingyuan with whereabouts still unknown.
"