Weird Facts

In a bizarre twist of fate, a rabbit and a rat became the center of an international dispute between China and France in 2009. For these animals were part of a famed collection of Chinese bronze zodiac heads which featured on the Ten Most Wanted Antiquities list by the Antiquities Coalition. Their intricate story sheds light on the challenges of combating looting and cultural racketeering. Crafted in the mid-18th century by an Italian Jesuit for the esteemed Quianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the twelve zodiac heads were originally part of a grand water clock fountain within the Yuanming Yuan, also known as the Garden of Perfect Brightness. These exquisite works of art adorned the imperial retreat of the Old