Jackie Chan to Christie鈥檚: sale of China's looted bronzes 'shameful'
An auction this week at Christie鈥檚 of the Yves Saint Laurent collection raised a whopping $478.8 million for charity and AIDS research.
So, could Pierre Berg茅, the late designer鈥檚 partner, have done without the $35.9 million for two Chinese national treasures? The sale of the two bronzes, a rat and a rabbit鈥檚 head looted from Bejing by British and French troops in 1860, unleashed a torrent of protest from Chinese lawyers, bloggers, students, the government, and even Jackie Chan. (Click here to read about China's efforts to reclaim stolen relics.)
The growing spat hits at a long-disputed question: Should the West return looted artworks?
The calculus seems unclear. In December, Christie's decided at the last minute to pull a pair of 3,000-year-old earrings from Iraq off the auction block in New York, pending investigation on whether the jewelry had been stolen. (See the Monitor鈥檚 report on that here.) But the auction house defended its sale of China's bronzes, saying their legal ownership had been 鈥渃learly confirmed.鈥�
Jackie Chan begs to differ. 鈥淭hey remain looted items, no matter whom they were sold to,鈥� the kungfu movie star said in Hong Kong Wednesday, adding that he鈥檚 now planning a film about a quest for stolen Chinese relics. Guess how it ends鈥�
Mr. Berg茅 had thrown a verbal punch of his own as the three-day auction began Monday, saying the bronzes would be returned 鈥渨hen China establishes human rights.鈥�
China dismissed the comment and hit back Thursday by ordering officials to 鈥渟crutinize artifacts鈥� that Christie鈥檚 takes in and out of the country. The auction 鈥渨ill have serious effects on Christie鈥檚 development in China,鈥� the State Administration of Cultural Heritage warned.
Not sure if that will ease 鈥� or inflame 鈥� tensions in the centuries-old dispute over looted treasures.
