Horse head auction could raise hackles

A rare bronze horse head plundered by British and French troops from the Yuanmingyuan (old Summer Palace) will go under the hammer next month.

The bid price for the horse head is likely to reach $10 million, a move that is stirring nationalist feelings in China, industry insiders said. Some argue that looted objects should be recovered according to international law.

The statue, which belongs to a Taiwan collector, is one of 12 bronze heads of zodiac animals which graced a water-clock fountain in the palace, which was destroyed by the British and the French in 1860.