Bronze relic to be auctioned might not be looted from Summer Palace: expert

The "Tiger Ying", a bronze said to have been looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace in 1860, is going up for auction at Canterbury Auction Gallery in the UK next month. But some experts are calling into question the history of the relic, according to thepaper.cn.

The Tiger Ying/ [Photo: thepaper.cn]

According to Zhou Ya, a former director of the Shanghai Museum bronze section, the bronze is believed to have been made as a water container during the late Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 B.C.). But he rejected the claim by the auction house that there are only seven such bronzes in existence.

Based on the photos available, the bronze relic was made during China's Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 B.C.) for practical use rather than for worship ceremonies, says Liu Yang, an academic attached to the Old Summer Palace. He says that old photos and letters offered up as proof that the "Tiger Ying" came from the Old Summer Palace was insufficient proof of its provenience.

Harry Lewis Evans, the former owner of "Tiger Ying". [Photo: thepaper.cn]

The question of where the bronze came from isn't the only controversy surrounding the sale. The sale of looted relics is banned by international convention, says Zhou Ya. China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage strongly condemns the illegal sale of looted cultural relics. A spokesperson from the administration has called on the institutions concerned to abide by relevant international conventions.

The Summer Palace was looted and destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War between 1856 and 1860. Over 150 years after the ransacking and destruction of the Summer Palace, there have been efforts by China to recover the stolen artifacts.

Canterbury Auctions Gallery say "Tiger Ying" will go under the hammer on April 11 with an estimated sale price of 120,000 to 200,000 pounds.

An excerpt of Harry Lewis Evans's letters to his family. [Photo: thepaper.cn]