Chinese bronze zodiac

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The Chinese bronze zodiacs were a set of 12 bronze figurehead sculptures that were looted from the Old Summer Palace (Traditional Chinese: 圓明園; Simplified Chinese: 圆明园; pinyin: Yuánmíng Yuán) by British and French expeditionary forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

[edit] History

The 12 bronze figureheads were part of a water clock fountain at Hall of the Calm Sea (Simplified Chinese海晏堂; pinyin: Haiyantang ) situated in the Garden of Eternal Spring (Simplified Chinese: 长春园; Traditional Chinese: 長春園; pinyin: Chángchūn Yuán)

The 12 bronze figureheads represented the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac with the main bodies carved out of stone and heads cast from bronze. They were designed by the European missionaries serving the Qing Court at the time, and were made by court artisans.

[edit] Current status

The recovery of the 12 figureheads have become a national priority in recent years. The current status are as follows:

Animal	Year Recovered	Recovered by	Cost
鼠子, Rat	-	-	-
牛丑, Ox	2000	China Poly Group Corp.	USD $980,000
虎寅, Tiger	2000	China Poly Group Corp.	USD $1.98 million
兔卯, Rabbit	-	-	-
龍辰 Dragon	-	-	-
蛇巳, Snake	-	-	-
馬午, Horse	2007	Stanley Ho	USD $8.9 million
羊未, Sheep	-	-	-
猴申, Monkey	2000	China Poly Group Corp.	USD $1.03 million
雞酉 Rooster	-	-	-
狗戌, Dog	-	-	-
豬亥, Boar	2003	Stanley Ho	USD $770,000

The Chinese collection are being housed at the Poly Art Museum, Beijing. The Rabbit and Rat are part of a private European collection housed in France.