Bronze relic stolen from BJ Old Summer Palace to be auctioned in Britian

A rare Chinese bronze water vessel believed to have been taken during the looting of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace in 1860 has been discovered in Kent, southeast England.

The relic will go on sale at The Canterbury Auction Galleries on April 11 with an estimate of 120,000 to 200,000 pounds (170,000 - 285,000 US dollars).

A thermoluminescence test on the pottery core of the handle and one foot was done in Oxford, determining the age of the bronze vessel to be between 2,200 and 3,500 years old.

Letters from Captain Harry Lewis Evans describe the looting of the palace.

The vessel was then kept by Royal Marines Captain Harry Lewis Evans (1831-83). In a letter to his mother, dated October 17, 1860, he detailed the looting of the Old Summer Palace or Yuanmingyuan by British and French troops under the orders from the British High Commissioner to China, Lord Elgin.

According to UNESCO, about 1.64 million Chinese relics are housed in more than 200 museums in 47 countries.

The Chinese Cultural Relics Society estimated that China had lost more than 10 million antiques since 1840, due to wartime looting and illegal excavations.

(CHINA DAILY)