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Fri 02 Feb 2009Paris art auction sparks call for return of bronze sculptures
CHINA HAS demanded the immediate return of two bronze animal-head sculptures taken from the summer palace in Beijing during the opium wars in the 19th century and now up for auction by the estate of late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
The Qing dynasty bronzes of a rabbit’s head and a rat’s head will come under the hammer at Christie’s in the Grand Palais in Paris, and are among 700 pieces in the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection that are expected to raise as much as €300 million to set up a foundation for Aids research.
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