From the library to the auction site, the stolen cultural relics were only found out for the second time--
An old case has sounded the alarm for cultural protection
Our reporter Wang Guangyan
Sixteen years after the theft, part of the letters in the collection of the cultural relic "Fish Goose Collection" in the Sichuan Provincial Library has recently appeared in the special promotion of "Guyi Qingfen·Letters and Ancient Books" by Guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co., Ltd.
On September 10, the auction house responded that it noticed that there were voices questioning the origin of the lot and decided to withdraw the auction.
On September 13, the Sichuan Provincial Library issued a statement confirming that the relevant auction items were stolen cultural relics from the library in 2004 and have been temporarily detained by the police.
This is the second time that some letters from the collection of "Fish Goose Collection" have been auctioned. An old case of theft of cultural relics has reappeared as an opportunity for investigation.
flagrant
The cultural relics were auctioned the following year
Lin Sijin is a famous writer and educator in modern times, and the first curator of the Sichuan Provincial Library.
The "Fish Goose Collection" signed by him is a letter from many calligraphers and masters of traditional Chinese painting to Lin Sijin, a famous scholar in the southwest, including letters to Lin Sijin, such as famous calligrapher Xie Wuliang and master of traditional Chinese painting Huang Binhong. It has important documentary value.
The Sichuan Provincial Library responded on Weibo that this batch of cultural relics was stolen on December 13, 2004. "After the document theft case, our library immediately took emergency measures to thoroughly investigate the hidden dangers of the library, install a surveillance system, and increase the security force. In addition, the problems in the work have been carefully rectified, and the protection of the collection of documents has been strengthened in terms of management systems, facilities and equipment, and implementation of responsibilities." However, the Sichuan Provincial Library could not elaborate on the details of the theft.
The daring thieves even brought these works to the auction market in June of the following year.
According to the auction information released by Shanghai Chongyuan Auction Co., Ltd., at the spring large-scale art auction on June 30, 2005, the collection of "Fish Goose Collection" was sold for RMB 308,000.
After a lapse of 15 years, these lots were sent to Guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co., Ltd. to collect and select their lots.
Asking for responsibility
Why is it difficult for auction houses to find the source of lots
The "Cultural Relics Protection Law" clearly stipulates that state-owned cultural relics collection units are prohibited from donating, renting out or selling cultural relics in their collections to other units or individuals.
So, why did this cultural relic that was stolen in 2004 successfully passed the review and sold 308,000 yuan?
“Auction houses are obliged to ask the bidders about the source of the lot, but it is often difficult to find out,” said Ji Tao, a researcher at the Auction Research Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics. In the actual lot collection, the origin of many lots is vague. For example, the client said that it was collected by the elders decades ago, but now it is too late to figure it out, or the client lied to the auction house, and the auction house has no insight into its authenticity."
According to Guangdong Chongzheng Auction Co., Ltd., it used the "China Stolen (Lost) Cultural Relics Information Publishing Platform" to verify the collection of Lin Sijin's collection of the lot involved, but failed to find the registration information.
Art market commentator Mu Jianping analyzed that if auction companies do not know that the auctions are stolen, they do not need to bear legal responsibility.
To a certain extent, this provision allows the auction company to "disregard responsibilities."
trigger the alarm
Plugging the loopholes at the source is the key
In recent years, some of the stolen cultural relics have been on the auction floor. For example, Xiao Yuan, the former librarian of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, once dropped more than 100 paintings by Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Bada Shanren and other celebrities in the museum, and the auction profit exceeded 100 million yuan. , Was sentenced to prison.
At the end of last year, Xiling Yinshe planned to auction the suspected unearthed cultural relics, which was also urgently stopped by the State Administration of Cultural Relics and further checked.
“The number of cultural relics and artworks auctioned each year may reach as many as 100,000. A very small number of cultural relics sold illegally were difficult to notice in the past,” said Liu Jiuzhou, a senior collector.
He Guanglun, director of the Sichuan Provincial Library, said in an interview with the media that when "The Collection of Fish Goose" was first auctioned in 2005, because the Internet was not as developed as it is now, he did not notice the auction information of these collections.
For so many years, the Sichuan Provincial Library has been closely tracking these cultural relics.
"Current auction targets have a lot of pictures and texts on the Internet. Once important cultural relics are stolen and flow into the auction market, they will quickly attract attention." Ji Tao said that compared with domestic auctions, private transactions, smuggling out of the country, etc. More secretively, "We should start from the source and consider how to keep these cultural relics from being lost." Only through thorough investigation can we close the loopholes in the theft of cultural relics and protect the cultural treasures of the nation.