[MSN] BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- The auction of four pieces of cultural relics that claimed to be "state heirlooms" was halted by the Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Auction of "state heirlooms" halted   
 
 
www.chinaview.cn  2007-11-23 08:43: 

    BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- The auction of four pieces of cultural relics that
claimed to be "state heirlooms" was halted by the Beijing Municipal
Administration of Cultural Heritage. The reason, according to the
administration, is that the auction company has conducted misleading and
false advertisements for its goods. 

    The auction company, Royal International Auction Co., Ltd, a major
cultural relic auction agent, has been found to have advertised their goods
as state-level treasures without examination from the expert panel of the
Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics, the local Beijing Times
reported. 

    The four pieces of cultural relics are advertised as a bronze pot from
the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.- 476 B.C.), a belt hook from the
Warring States Period (403 B.C.- 221 B.C.), and two pieces of lacquer ware
used by the first emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty (6 B.C.-57 A.D.). They
belong to two Taiwan collectors and were originally scheduled to be
auctioned on the 17th and 18th of November. Their total value is estimated
at 70 million yuan, or 9.3 million U.S. dollars. 

    Although these antiques were claimed to be state treasures by the
auction company, the expert panel from the Cultural Relics Bureau said three
of them were forgeries and the last one was still under experts'
examination. The auction company has been treating these works as cultural
relics in their advertisements and therefore might mislead collectors, said
an official with the cultural relic bureau. 

    The Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics said if such
objects entered the cultural relics market, they would disturb market order.


    The Royal International Auction Co., Ltd admitted that it had organized
its own expert panel and published news of the auction without the
authorization by the Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics. From the
point of view of the company's experts, the to-be-auctioned goods are all
authentic. The company has immediately stopped its auction activity soon
after receiving the order. 

    These art works will be returned to the Taiwan clients after the closing
of the matter. 

    The Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Relics has vowed to
regulate the auction market of cultural relics in the future. 

    (Source: CRIENGLISH. com)