Chalk one up for the argument that the auction of the Chinese bronzes in the YSL sale were in China’s interest. A Taiwanese collector, according to now claims that the owner of the dragon from the Beijing Summer Palace zodiac clock was poking around before the sale:
Wellington Wang, a well-known local art collector, told the TVBS news channel he was contacted by a businessman who claimed to have the bronze dragon’s head and was initially looking to auction it. [ . . . ] “He was willing to sell it if the (Christie’s) auction went well. He didn’t expect such a big fallout and now everybody is afraid,” Wang said, indicating that the dealer had changed his mind.
The owner allegedly bought the dragon’s head for 200,000 US dollars from a European antique dealer around 1988 and has since stored it in central Taiwan, Wang told the local Apple Daily. Wang declined to name the collector and added he has not seen the artefact.
