Paris, France: Despite objections from China, Christie’s has sold two bronze fountainheads stolen in the 19th century from Beijing’s Summer Palace.

The pieces were snapped up for €15.7 million (S$30.7 million) each late on Wednesday by buyers whose names are being kept secret by the auction house.

The sale came on the third and final night of the auction of more than 700 pieces of art and furnishings collected by the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his long-time companion Pierre Bergé.

China says the bronzes, depicting the heads of a rabbit and a rat, are part of its heritage and must be returned.

Their sale further embittered relations between France and China, which soured last year when French President Nicolas Sarkozy considered skipping the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics to protest against Chinese policy on Tibet. His remarks on Tibet prompted a brief boycott of French products in China.

Diplomatic and commercial ties have been frosty ever since. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Commerce Minister Chen Deming pointedly avoided France during recent tours of Europe. In December, China also cancelled a summit with the European Union planned in the French city of Lyon.

As with many of the items up for sale, bids for the Chinese sculptures came by phone and the successful buyers were listed as “anonymous”.

French media reported that most of the bidders at what was called “the sale of the century” were European art dealers and American collectors.

Largely absent were the industrialists and “new rich” from the Persian Gulf and Russia who had been buying up luxury property and art in Europe before the global financial crisis hit.

“We are held to the same confidentiality as doctors,” said Mr François de Ricqles, vice-president of Christie’s, when pressed for information.

The estimated sale price for each of the heads had been €8 million to €10 million. The auction broke records by bringing in €375 million in all.

In France, the bronzes claimed by China were not seen in the same light as other controversial artefacts like the Egyptian Rosetta Stone in the British museum.

An unnamed Christie’s official said that a convention dealing with stolen art was signed by France and China only in 1995, and could not be applied to objects looted so long before.

Just before bidding began on the third day of the sale, France’s Minister of Culture Christine Albanel dismissed the complaints from Chinese cultural associations and said the bronzes had been purchased and sold legally.

“There is always a possibility for a country that wants to recover certain works to buy them,” she said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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