--FILE--una replica del bronzo testa di ratti, la reliquia originale di cui era stata saccheggiata quando le forze straniere distrutto il vecchio palazzo estivo nel 1860, è disp
--FILE--A replica of the bronze rats head, the original relic of which was looted when foreign forces destroyed the Old Summer Palace in 1860, is displayed during the Fourth China (Nanjing) Cultural Industry Trade Fair in Nanjing city, east Chinas Jiangsu province, 30 September 2009. A rats head and a rabbits head which were looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 will be returned to China by its current French owner, the owners representative announced on Friday (26 April 2013) in Beijing. During a meeting with State Culture Relics Bureau officials, French PPR Group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said on behalf of his family, he will donate the two bronze relics to Chinese government. Pinault expects to return the relics in August or September, while the Chinese officials hope they can be sent back to their home country in July. The rats head and the rabbits head will be collected by the National Museum, said Song Xinchao, vice director of the State Culture Relics Bureau. He expressed gratitude to Pinault and his family. The plundered pieces, part of a clepsydra or water clock, are considered Chinese national treasures and China wants them back. The issue of stolen antiquities is highly charged. The heads are among 12 zodiac animal heads that adorned the elaborate timekeeping device. They were designed by the Italian Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione for the Emperor Qianlong in the mid-18th century. The Old Summer Palace was looted by British and French troops in 1860. The heads belonged to several European collections before they were acquired by French businessman Pierre Berge and the late Yves Saint Laurent in the 1990s. The Pinault family purchased the rats head and the rabbits head from their previous owner in 2009 after an auction failed.
