Yves Saint Laurent and the ‘stolen’ artworks

The sale of of the French couturier Yves Saint Laurent's £200m art collection, which is due to take place at Christie's in Paris on February 23, has been thrown into disarray by a claim that two of the lots should be removed from the auction because they were looted from China.

The treasures in question are a pair of 18th century bronze animal heads, a rat and a rabbit, which have an estimated sale price of £16 - £20m. It is not disputed that these were stolen in 1860 from the gardens of the Imperial Summer Palace in Beijing, but Christie's argue that they were acquired by Saint Laurent, who died in June aged 71, and his partner, Pierre Berge, entirely legitimately.

"If we had to give these two pieces free to China, we would have to hand back the [Ancient Egyptian] Obelisk on the Place de La Concorde and numerous paintings in the Louvre," a Christie's employee told Le Point. Christie’s point out that the works come with a comprehensive historical provenance.

This is not how the Chinese see it. Its Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Fund (LCRRF) has drafted in 67 lawyers to work on the legal claim. "We hope they stop the sale and order the owner of the stolen items to return them," said Liu Yang, one of lawyers working for the LCRRF.

The rat and rabbit were among 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. They were allegedly taken in 1860 when allied French and British armies sacked the palace after the imperial government murdered British diplomats. Interestingly, the commander of those forces was Lord Elgin, of ‘Elgin Marbles’ fame. ·