Showing results 289 - 300 of 355 for the tag: Looting.

March 17, 2009

Solving the issue of the Chinese bronzes statues

Posted at 2:21 pm in Similar cases

Whilst there may be a solution to the issue of the Chinese bronze sculptures being sold by the partner of Yves Saint Lauren, it is clear that there is not an easy option that will not leave one side feeling cheated. The sculptures have changed hands many times since leaving China, so the current owners feel that they hold no responsibility for occurrences long ago in the history of the artefacts.

From:
Economic Observer Online

CULTURE
A Sober Look at Sorting out the Cultural Relic Scandal
From Lifestyle, issue no. 409, March 9, 2009
Translated by Zhang Junting

A rabbit and a rat removed from the Old Summer Palace; twenty-eight million euros in compensation; an invasion of Anglo-French into imperial Beijing, a Chinese legal team descending on Paris; a mysterious buyer’s irresistible offer and sudden refusal to pay; an auction and a demonstration; an heirloom, art-room, and nationalism abloom…

But before we delve into the heart of what may have been the most drama-packed auction in history, let’s rewind to its lengthy preface:
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March 13, 2009

Bulgarian court rules on looted artefact

Posted at 5:48 pm in Greece Archaeology, Similar cases

A court in Bulgaria has ruled to allow the confiscation of some Byzantine plates currently in Greek Museums that they believe were obtained from illegal excavations. Greece is normally on the other side of disputes such as this – it will be interesting to see if they apply the same rationale to their response as they do to their own restitution requests.

From:
Balkan Travellers

BalkanTravellers.com
12 March 2009
Bulgarian court ruling

A Bulgarian court recently ruled for the confiscation of the nine Byzantine plates purchased by three Greek museums in Greece in 2004.

The confiscation is possible on the basis of a special EU law, which Greece has not yet adopted, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.
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Bronze drum stand in the British Museum may be looted

Posted at 5:19 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

Evidence suggests that an artefact currently on loan to the British Museum for a temporary exhibition may have been illegally excavated. It could be argued that although the museum does not own the artefact, it is going against its own loan guidelines in accepting it for the exhibition.

From:
The Art Newspaper

Bronze at British Museum may be loot
Drum stand now owned by Shanghai Museum but origins unclear
By Martin Bailey
Posted online: 11.3.09 | From Issue 200 (March 2009)

LONDON. The centrepiece of the Chinese bronzes exhibition, “Treasures from Shanghai”, at London’s British Museum appears to have been illegally excavated within the past few years. However, it is now legitimately the property of the Shanghai Museum. The British Museum show is the first time the bronze has been exhibited.

Dating from 770-476 BC, the drum stand is decorated with three intertwined dragons. It probably comes from the tomb of a ruler, from a site that is unknown to archaeologists, possibly in Shanxi Province. Other important finds, such as musical instruments, may well have been looted from the tomb.
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March 6, 2009

Should Britain return the Koh-i-noor diamond?

Posted at 11:41 am in Similar cases

The Koh-i-noor diamond left India for Britain in 1850 as loot following a Sikh uprising. Since then there have been many calls for it to be returned.

From:
Times Blogs

March 03, 2009
Should Britain give the Koh-i-noor back to India?

It was reported yesterday that a descendant of Mahatma Gandhi has asked Britain to return the Koh-i-noor diamond to India, thereby adding it to a list of treasures which the UK is under pressure to restore to their original homes – most notably the Elgin Marbles. This also comes in a week when France has been asked to send back two bronzes from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent to Beijing, where they were originally looted from the Summer Palace.

The Koh-i-noor is an interesting case because it seems that almost from the moment it arrived in the UK there were doubts about its ownership. It was brought here in 1850 after the defeat of an uprising by the Sikhs in the Punjab, and was initially greeted as fair booty of war in this jingoistic leading article:
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March 4, 2009

The problems of disputed artefacts

Posted at 11:08 am in Similar cases

The auctions of Chinese bronzes & of Mahatma Gandhi’s spectacles have both stirred up controversy, leading many commentators to highlight how many other similar unresolved cases there are.

From:
My Sinchew

They Are Auctioning Their Ancestors’ Shame
2009-03-04 12:35

When Chinese people are protesting against the auction of the two rabbit and rat bronze sculpture heads, the news of Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic spectacles, which he once said gave him “the vision to free India”, are to be sold at an auction in New York on 5 March, has caused public revulsion in India.

India, China, Egypt and Babylon are the world’s four great ancient civilizations. Sadly, in the human warfare history which is full of killings, a large number of relics from these ancient civilizations have become the victors’ bloody war trophies and are now losing abroad.
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March 2, 2009

The difficulties of recovering looted artefacts

Posted at 9:58 pm in Elgin Marbles, Similar cases

The recovery of looted artefacts is often accompanied by many underlying political dimensions – both on the part of the party requesting return & of the current holders.

From:
Democracy Arsenal

March 02, 2009
Stolen Art and International Relations
Posted by Hanna Lundqvist

The looting of art and historical artifacts is often dismissed as a factor in international relations. Having studied art history in college and now working in foreign policy, I feel that when dealing with an issue portfolio that includes nuclear proliferation, war, economic crises, and global warming, the lower priority of art and culture is usually reasonable – however, this does not mean that the problem of looting should be entirely ignored, particularly because of the strong ties between art and national pride. Stolen art is not merely of concern due to the loss of object context for art historians and archeologists or cultural patrimony. Though usually rightly on the back-burner, looted art is a legitimate and often hot-tempered foreign policy issue.
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Chinese bidder won’t pay for YSL statues

Posted at 9:38 pm in Similar cases

Following the contentious auctioning of statues from the collection of Yves Saint Lauren, it now transpires that the winning bidder does not plan on paying for them – but was bidding as a publicity stunt to highlight the plight of the disputed treasures.

From:
The Times

March 2, 2009
Chinese bidder can’t pay, won’t pay for YSL auction statues
Jane Macartney, China Correspondent

A Chinese bidder who said he had bought at auction two looted bronze imperial sculptures once owned by Yves Saint Laurent announced today that he would not – or could not – pay for the treasures.

The two pieces, the head of a rat and the head of a rabbit that were designed by Jesuit priests as part of a 12-head Chinese zodiac fountain for an imperial pleasure palace in the 18th century, were bought for €15,745,000 (£13,977,000) each by a telephone bidder last week.
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February 26, 2009

Who took the animal heads from China

Posted at 1:12 pm in Similar cases

The Daily Telegraph looks at how the heads being auctioned from Yves Saint Lauren’s collection came to leave China in the first place. In response to this auction, China is now tightening regulation on import & export of artefacts from China.

From:
Daily Telegraph Blogs

So who did loot those French-Italian animal heads?
Posted By: Richard Spencer at Feb 25, 2009 at 09:04:00 [General]
Posted in: Foreign Correspondents

Not surprisingly, the Chinese government and people have been unable to persuade the French or Christie’s to stop the sale of two bronze animal heads looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing.

The heads – the rabbit and the rat – are part of the Yves St Laurent collection, being sold by his former lover and business partner, Pierre Berge. They go under the hammer later today (that’s Wednesday). Read the rest of this entry »

February 25, 2009

China won’t trade artefacts for human rights

Posted at 1:00 pm in Similar cases

China has rejected the peculiar offer proposed by the partner of the late Yves Saint Lauren, to exchange artefacts (that are arguably looted) for human rights in Tibet.

From:
Asia Times (Hong Kong)

CHINA: Won’t Trade Art Objects For Rights in Tibet
Written by Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING, Feb 24 (IPS) – As nationalistic passions burn over the fate of looted Chinese artworks auctioned in Paris this week, Beijing is attempting to keep the focus on past humiliations by Western powers and away from delicate issues like human rights and China’s handling of Tibet.

The twisted tale of two animal heads, cast in bronze, that once adorned the Qing dynasty pleasure gardens in Beijing and disappeared, allegedly in pillaging by British and French armies in 1860, took yet another turn last week when their current owner suggested he would return them if Beijing agreed to free Tibet.
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February 21, 2009

Museum diplomacy?

Posted at 12:15 pm in British Museum, Similar cases

The British Museum is fond of terms such as Cultural Diplomacy as a way of describing some of their current initiatives, but as I have commented before, this only ever seems to occur when it is on their terms & they are in a position to call the shots.

In the case of the Shah ‘Abbas exhibition, Cultural Diplomacy seems to take the form of leveraging your looting – lending back disputed artefacts in exchange for borrowing further artefacts.

From:
Time

The Art of Museum Diplomacy
By WILLIAM LEE ADAMS Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009

When western diplomats seek concessions from Iran, they typically dish out tough rhetoric and threaten sanctions. Neil MacGregor, the cherub-faced director of the British Museum, uses a more refined arsenal: cultural relics and priceless artifacts. In January, MacGregor traveled to Tehran to finalize the loan of treasures from eight of Iran’s best museums. In exchange, he promised to loan the National Museum of Iran the Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,500-year-old clay cylinder inscribed with decrees from the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great. Following a request by the Iranian Vice President’s office, he also vowed to raise international awareness of damage done to archaeological sites in Gaza during Israel’s recent military operation. The lofty maneuvering paid off: three weeks later, dozens of crates containing Persian rugs and 17th century mosque ornaments were winging their way to London.
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Yves Saint Lauren, China & the son of Lord Elgin

Posted at 12:09 pm in Similar cases

Despite attempts by China to block the sale of artefacts looted from Beijing & now in the collection of the late Yves Saint Lauren, the sale is still due to proceed.

A new & bizarre twist in the story is added by the seller’s offer to trade the artefacts in exchange for recognising human rights within China.

From:
Christian Science Monitor

China protests Christie’s auction in Paris of relics
Legal efforts to retrieve two bronzes looted by Western troops in 1860 may fail. Another option: let wealthy donors buy them back.
By Peter Ford | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 20, 2009 edition

Beijing – A rat and a rabbit, emerging from a century and a half of peaceful seclusion, have found themselves in the eye of an international storm about their future, and the proper fate of looted artworks.

Once upon a time, the two animal heads, cast in bronze, adorned a water clock fountain in the Chinese emperor’s Summer Palace here. They were plundered when British and French troops ransacked and burned the palace buildings in 1860.
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February 13, 2009

More on the Yves Saint Lauren artefact sale

Posted at 7:46 pm in Similar cases

Further coverage of the planned sale of disputed Chinese artefacts from the collection of Yves Saint Lauren.

From:
The Scotsman

Friday, 13th February 2009
China and France in tug-of-war over Yves St Laurent treasures
By Ethan McNern

CHINA has demanded the return of looted imperial bronzes due to be auctioned in Paris as part of the estate of the late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
The sculptures of a rat’s head and a rabbit’s head disappeared in 1860, when French and British forces looted and then burned the former summer palace on the outskirts of Beijing at the end of the second Opium War.

Jiang Yu, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said yesterday that the pieces had been “stolen and taken away by intruders,” and “should be returned to China”.
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