1985, an American antique dealer accidentally discovered the bronze statue of the horse's head, as well as the bronze statues of the bull's head and the tiger's head in a private house in California. At that time, the cow's head was placed in the bathroom to hang bath towels, while the tiger's head and horse's head were regarded as ordinary gardening decorations and placed beside the pool in the garden.
The antique dealer bought the three bronze heads at a low price of $65,438+0,500 each. From 1987 to 1989, including these three bronze statues of the animal head and the monkey head in Yuanmingyuan, they were auctioned in new york and London successively. At that time, the highest transaction price was Ma Shou, 250,000 dollars. The reason why it is said to be a horse's head is mainly because Emperor Qianlong belongs to a horse, so it is the most exquisite in production technology.
The bronze heads of mice and rabbits, which have been lost overseas for many years, appeared at Christie's auction in France in 2005. Although the valuation is yet to be determined, market participants said that its valuation may be between 8 million and 6.5438+million euros, with a total price of 200 million yuan. This price is very unreasonable from the technical and market perspectives.
By 20 12, the bronze statues of bull head, monkey head, tiger head, pig head and horse head had returned to China and were collected in Poly Art Museum. 20 13 On April 26th, French Pino family announced in Beijing that they would donate the bronze mouse heads and rabbit heads of the Twelve Water Methods in Yuanmingyuan to China for free. The donated mouse head and rabbit head are two of the bronze statues of the 12 zodiac animals lost in the Yuanmingyuan in Beijing.
By the end of 20 18, eight animal heads of the Yuanmingyuan Zodiac had returned to China, among which the dragon head was well preserved in Taiwan Province Province, and the whereabouts of the snake head, the head of a chicken, the head of a dog and the head of a sheep were unknown.
Extended data
The whereabouts of the animal heads of the zodiac are as follows:
Rat 20 13 Fran? ois-Henri Pi Nuo, chairman of French Spring Group, announced on behalf of his family that he would donate the bronze statues of rat heads and rabbit heads collected in Yuanmingyuan to China for free. Now in the National Museum of China.
Cattle was auctioned in Hong Kong in 2000 and won by Poly Group for HK$ 7 million. Now it is stored in Beijing Poly Art Museum for public visit.
Tiger was auctioned in Hong Kong in 2000, and Poly Group won it at a price three times higher than the reserve price, that is, HK$ 6,543,804, which is now deposited in Beijing Poly Art Museum for public viewing.
Rabbit 20 13 Fran? ois-Henri Pi Nuo, the chairman of French Spring Group, announced on behalf of his family that he would donate the bronze statues of rat heads and rabbit heads collected in Yuanmingyuan to China for free. Now in the National Museum of China.
On the afternoon of February 20 18 17, French time, the dragon head, which is suspected to be one of the animal heads of the 12 zodiac animals in Yuanmingyuan, appeared in a small auction in Paris, France, and was finally bought by a China buyer for 24 million yuan.
The whereabouts of this snake is unknown.
Horses were bought from Europe and America by collectors in Taiwan Province Province in the1980s. On September 20th, 2007, it was taken by Mr. Stanley Ho, a famous patriot in Macao, for HK$ 6,965,438 million+.
The whereabouts of the sheep are unknown.
This monkey was auctioned in Hong Kong in 2000. Poly Group bought it for HK$ 7.4 million, and now it is placed in Beijing Poly Art Museum for public viewing.
The whereabouts of the chicken are unknown
The dog's whereabouts are unknown.
In 2003, Stanley Ho, the gambling king of Macao, bought the pig for less than HK$ 7 million, and then donated it to Poly Group, which was kept in Beijing Poly Art Museum for public viewing.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Yuanmingyuan Animal Head Auction