Ancient Chinese artifact sold at auction in UK for £410,000

An ancient Chinese relic dating back to the Western Zhou (1027–771) was sold at auction in England this week despite protests from Chinese officials who say that the artifact was illegally plundered from their country.

The bronze water vessel, made between 2,200 and 3,600 years ago, had been taken by a British solider during the infamous sack of the Old Summer Palace, known in Chinese as the Yuanming Yuan (圆明园 ), in 1860.

With tigers cast into its spout and cover, the piece is called the Tiger Ying. Only six similar archaic vessels are known to exist — five of which are in museums and none of which feature the tiger, Kent Online reports.

The auction house, Canterbury Auction Galleries, said that a letter was found with the artifact, written by a Royal Marines captain to his family, detailing what he had managed to snatch away from the former imperial residence.

“I succeeded in getting several bronzes and enamel vases that will, I hope, some day find their way to [his home in the UK],” the letter reads, according to the BBC.

The vessel was eventually “re-discovered” at an “unassuming house” in Kent along with three bronze works from the Qing dynasty. It had been given an estimated price of between £120,000 and £200,000, but ended up being sold at auction for a whopping £410,000 (3.65 million yuan), becoming one of the auction house’s biggest successes.

The auction was conducted despite protests from China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, which said that the rare cultural relic was plundered illegally from China. The agency urged the auction house to cancel the sale and abide by the spirit of the international conventions , respect the feelings of the people of the country of origin of the cultural relics, do not buy or sell illegally-run cultural relics, or conduct commercial hype in the name of such cultural relics.”

The auctioneers said that they would not be commenting on the Chinese side’s request, but, prior to the auction, Canterbury Auction Galleries managing director Tony Pratt had this to say:

“We are confident the owner had good title of the vase, which came into the country in 1860, and we have satisfied due diligence and have every right to sell it.”

A photo of the Yuanming Yuan taken 13 years after its destruction.

The Chinese government estimates that 1.5 million items were plundered from China during the sack of the Old Summer Palace, a number of which have gone on to fetch a fortune at auction.

Back in 2009, Chinese art collector Cai Mingchao boasted that it was “patriotism” that made him bid 15 million euro for two bronze sculptures looted from the former imperial residence, a sum that he said he had no intention of every actually paying.

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