Photo: Courtesy of National Cultural Heritage Administration
China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) received 41 cultural and artistic artifacts returned to the Chinese side by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York, US, at dawn on Tuesday, Beijing time.
In a release sent to the Global Times, NCHA said these artifacts include a bronze money tree with a ceramic base, a plain pottery tripod, a plain lidded bronze vessel, and a pottery figurine of a storyteller, among others. The types of artifacts span pottery, jade, bronze, Buddhist statues, portrait bricks, and Tibetan Buddhist artifacts.
Preliminary image identification and legal analysis by experts indicate that these cultural and artistic artifacts date from the Neolithic period to Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), encompassing a rich variety and exquisite craftsmanship, and hold certain historical, artistic, and scientific value.
According to the press release, these were identified as Chinese cultural and artistic artifacts that were illegally brought overseas.
In November 2024, NCHA learned through Chinese Consulate General in New York that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had seized 41 suspected lost Chinese cultural and artistic artifacts during an investigation.
Upon receiving this information, NCHA initiated verification and related work, closely collaborating with the Chinese Consulate General in New York, and with the cooperation of US departments, successfully facilitating the return of these artifacts.
Luo Wenyi, deputy director of the NCHA, underlined the importance of this occasion, stating that preventing illegal relic trafficking and promoting their return is a just cause that protects cultural heritage and human civilization.
“This return represents another key collaboration between China and the US, following the renewal of their intergovernmental memorandum of understanding in 2024,” he told the Global Times.
Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, stressed the need for collaborative efforts in returning cultural relics. He said that just as in the Olympics, differences and prejudices should be set aside to work toward a shared objective, and he’s delighted to return the 41 precious cultural relics and artworks to China.
After accepting the artifacts in New York, the NCHA will oversee their repatriation to China in due course, followed by coordinated public engagement and exhibition planning, according to NCHA.
On January 14, 2009, China and the US signed their first intergovernmental memorandum of understanding to prevent the illegal entry of Chinese cultural relics into the US, which was subsequently renewed in 2014, 2019, and 2024. Since the signing of the memorandum, the two sides have successfully facilitated the return of 20 batches totaling 594 pieces or sets of lost cultural and artistic artifacts from the US to China.
