Despite objections, looted Chinese urn sold at UK auction for $581,000
By Bo Leung in London | China Daily | Updated: 2018-04-13 08:02
A rare, 3,000-year-old bronze vessel thought to have been looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 has fetched 410,000 pounds ($581,000) at auction in Kent, in the south of England.
The water vessel, dating from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11 century-771 BC), was sold at The Canterbury Auction Galleries despite protests from China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, which said that it strongly opposed and condemned the sale of looted property.
China's national cultural relics watchdog demanded the item be withdrawn from sale and called for buyers to boycott the auction.
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