Vietnam successfully negotiated the return of a 19th century Vietnamese imperial seal from the French auction house Millon, according to the ministry of culture, sports and tourism
The government will purchase the seal from Millon without providing the negotiated price, state media reported.
The seal weighing 11 kilograms (24 pounds), with a large flying dragon sculpture on top, according to a description page of the item which has since been taken down. While the ministry release did not disclose the final negotiated price, Millon had offered to sell the seal for 2-3 million euros ($1.96-2.95 million).
The imperial seal was made in 1823 and owned by the Emperor Minh Mang, who ruled Vietnam between 1820 and 1841, according to the statement. The phrase “Hoang De Chi Bao” (Treasure of The Emperor) appears on the imperial seal.
“Returning the gold seal to Vietnam not only supplements the collection of lost artifacts, treasures and cultural heritages that ‘bleed’ overseas, but also reinforces the state’s viewpoint of preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage,” Bloomberg quotes the statement.
Millon also offers for sale a golden bowl, which has an image of a dragon, from the time of the Nguyen Dynasty’s King Khai Dinh (reigning 1916-1925). The bowl is estimated to fetch between 20,000-25,000 euros, local media reported.
There has been a rise in the popularity and presence of Vietnamese antiquities in international auctions.
In June, a jade bowl owned by Tu Duc, the fourth king of Vietnam’s last royal dynasty, went under the hammer for 845,000 euros at an auction in Paris.
According to the VNExpress, a Vietnamese Mandarin cap from the Nguyen Dynasty sold for 600,000 euros in Spain in October last year.
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Source: Vietnam Insider