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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Write to Christie's!

Christie's is aiding and abetting looters and thieves!

On February 25, Christie's will be auctioning off two bronze animal statues, looted and stolen from the Chinese Imperial Summer Palace (圓明園 or Yuan Ming Yuan) by European forces in 1860. The two animal heads, a mouse and a bunny, were severed from a water fountain at Yuan Ming Yuan. Somehow, they ended up in the designer Yves St Laurent's possession. Mr. St. Laurent passed away last year and now his estate is auctioning off the two bronze animal statutes. Although the Chinese government has requested Christie's to return these two bronze statutes, Christie's has refused and contends that the title is clear. What the f*** Christie? Are you practicing law without license? The title clearly belongs to the Chinese people. I am super pissed off because I actually visited Yuan Ming Yuan once, and here is what's left of it after the Anglo-French forces looted and ransacked the place.
Photo courtesy of j.janice

I call upon all people who believe in fairness and justice to write and call Christie's International in protest. Below is Christie's contact information:

Sales people in charge of this auction:
Mathilde Courteault: mcourteault@christies.com
Tiphaine Nicoul: tnicoul@christies.com

info@christies.com
London, +44 (0)20 7839 9060
New York, +1 212 492 5485