清乾隆青玉雕仿古兽面纹提梁卣

　　Two Chinese relics that were looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, in 1860 have been withdrawn from auction at Bonhams auctioneers in London。

　　Bonhams has removed all the information and photos of the two cultural relics from its website。

　　Colin Sheaf, Bonhams Asia chairman, said in a statement on Nov 2: "Bonhams is very sorry to read reports in the Chinese press that offence has been caused in China by the proposed sale of two jade carvings."

　　China Daily reported on Nov 2 that China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the nation's top cultural heritage agency, slammed the auction as being "against the spirit of international conventions"。

　　The agency urged auctioneers to respect the feelings of people from the country where the relics were looted。

　　"There was never in any way an intention to cause offence, and Bonhams regrets that this interpretation has been published," Sheaf added。

　　"The owner of these jades has also read the Chinese press comments, and does not wish to cause any offence in China," Sheaf said, adding that the owner has instructed Bonhams to withdraw the two items from sale, and they have been returned to him。

　　"Bonhams greatly values its connections with museum specialists and government authorities in China, and has already contacted the State Administration for Cultural Heritage to seek clarification of its statement in the Chinese press," the statement also noted。

　　"I'm happy to learn that the British auctioneer finally withdrew the auction of Chinese cultural relics," said Chen Ling, a 30-year-old woman living in London。

　　英国一拍卖行此前曾公告称，将拍卖两件圆明园流失文物。3日，该拍卖行表示，这两件玉雕艺术品的持有者决定收回这两件藏品，不再参与拍卖。

　　文物确认来自圆明园

　　10月下旬，英国邦瀚斯拍卖行(Bonhams)在其网站上宣布，将于11月8日拍卖两件来自中国“夏宫”的文物。分别为清嘉庆白玉镂雕凤纹长宜子孙牌。以及清乾隆青玉雕仿古兽面纹提梁卣，为青玉雕成。此前还曾在上海预展过。有关专家考证了两件文物的出处，“夏宫”就是中国的圆明园，文物的流失过程也显示其确实来自圆明园。

　　文物即将拍卖的消息发布后，引发公众高度关注。昨日，据媒体报道，英国邦瀚斯拍卖行(Bonhams)2日通过电子邮件告知记者，两件圆明园流失文物已被所有者收回，不会参与邦瀚斯将于11月8日举行的中国艺术品拍卖会。

　　文物已被持有者收回

　　邦瀚斯拍卖行(Bonhams)亚洲艺术品部主管科林•希夫(Colin Sheaf)称，两件圆明园流失文物已被持有者收回，拍卖行对于此次两件展品的拍卖在中国引起的不满“深表抱歉，邦瀚斯从未想过要冒犯中国人民”。

　　科林•希夫称，两件物品的持有者看到了中国媒体关于此事的报道及大家的评论后，不希望进一步激化中国人民对此事的愤怒。

　　当年系英军军官带出

　　“追索圆明园流失文物律师团”律师刘洋表示，拍卖行和文物持有者重视中国人民意见的态度值得赞赏。国家有关部门可与持有者进行接触，一方面表示对持有者的尊重，另一方面，还能与持有者进行谈判，以物质补偿和精神奖励形式回购文物。

　　拍卖行的网站所附文物“出身证明”，记载文物由英军第六十七兵团的上尉军官阿瑟•朱尔斯•罗伯森1860年“从中国夏宫带出”。他在给母亲的纸条上写着：“这块玉和其他东西都是1860年10月从中国夏宫带出来的。”

　　长宜子孙牌估价为6万-10万英镑(61万-100万人民币)，提梁卣估价为4万-8万英镑(41万-82万人民币)。

　　- 追访

　　炒作流失文物抬高身价

　　昨天，国家文物局有关负责人表示，对于英国拍卖行拍卖圆明园流失文物的类似事件，国家文物局的态度不变：在关注事件的同时，反对国际拍卖行拍卖通过非法途径带离中国的(包括于战争期间被掠走)文物，并敦促海外拍卖行遵守国际公约，尊重原文物归属国人民的感情。

　　业内人士指出，对越来越频繁的国外拍卖行炒作中国文物行为，应予以警醒。利用国人对流失文物的情感，一些文物价格遭到哄抬。即便是最终未被拍卖，其价格也在炒作中得到了抬升。

　　如2010年11月英国某拍卖行将一个估价80万英镑至120万英镑之间的清乾隆粉彩镂空瓷瓶以5160万英镑(约5.5亿人民币)的价格成交，英媒称中国人正不惜代价买回失去的文化遗产。(新京报)