To the Point
Chinese Bidder Refuses to Pay for Looted Art
In Paris last week, Christie's held the most expensive auction ever for a private collection . Two of the prized items were 18th century bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit from China that went for $40 million. Christie's won't confirm the identity of the bidder, but a Chinese collector told a news conference in Beijing he's the man.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readIn Paris last week, Christie's held the most expensive auction ever for a private collection. Two of the prized items were 18th century bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit from China that went for $40 million. Christie's won't confirm the identity of the bidder, but a Chinese collector told a news conference in Beijing he's the man. He also says it's his patriotic duty not to pay up. Julian Radcliffe is chairman of the Art Loss Register, which maintains the world's largest database on stolen, missing and looted art.
