Looted relic to be auctioned despite China protest

 Tourists admire the ruins of Haiyan Hall at the Old Summer Palace

PARIS (AFP) — A French auction house said the sale of an 18th-century Chinese imperial seal would go ahead on Wednesday despite angry protests in Beijing, in the latest row over the sale of looted relics.
"The sale is going ahead, everything is in order," said Thierry Portier, in charge of the sale organised in Paris by the auctioneer Beaussant-Lefevre, which values the jade piece at 300,000-400,000 euros (396,000-528,000 dollars).

The authorities that manage Beijing's Summer Palace, former home to China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) emperors, issued a sharp protest on Wednesday saying the seal was looted by British and French forces in 1860.

"Such relics should all be repatriated to China and returned to their place of origin," the palace authority said in a statement.

"We once again express strong indignation at this sort of repeated action that hurts the Chinese people's feelings, harms their cultural interests, and violates relevant international pacts," it said.

China's communist central government did not immediately comment.

Mounted with two carved dragons back to back, the white jade seal comes from the personal collection of a descendant of Elie Jean de Vassoigne, a French general who commanded some of the invading troops.

But Portier said General Vassoigne was not mentioned in records of the pillage of the Summer Palace, pointing out that he was in charge of Takou fort in Tiensin, 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Beijing, in 1860.

"We know he was in Takou at the time," he said, adding that it was not known how the seal came to be in his possession.

According to Portier, a dozen Chinese imperial seals are sold each year across the world, with one 17th-century piece snapped up in southern France last year for 5.6 million euros.

Chinese authorities have never complained so far, he said, adding that Beaussant-Lefevre had already secured the French government's authorisation to export the latest piece from France after the sale.

The contested auction comes two months after Christie's sold two bronze animal heads looted from the Summer Palace, which belonged to late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge.

The 15.7-million-euro sale sparked a firestorm of criticism in China and further strained Sino-French relations already hurt by a December meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama.

Authorities in Beijing had repeatedly called for the sale of the Saint Laurent bronzes to be halted, and the relics returned to China.

A Chinese art collector later said he was the bidder but refused to pay, leaving the auction in limbo.