Pansy Ho Chiu-king (left), Stanley Ho's daughter, and Luo Shugang, Minister of Culture and Tourism, lift the curtain for the newly returned statue at National Museum of China on Nov 13, 2019. (Photo/Xinhua)
A red bronze horse-head statue was donated back by Macao-based tycoon and collector Stanley Ho Hung-sun and handed over to the National Cultural Heritage Administration in Beijing in November this year.
The statue appeared in the National Museum of China and joined a temporary exhibition on cultural relics that have been returned from overseas since 1949.
The newly returned horse-head red bronze statue was one of 12 decorative taps - in the form of 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs - which were set for a foundation in Xiyang Lou area (or Western Mansions), a group of Baroque architecture in the Old Summer Palace.
Ho spent HK$ 69.1 million ($8.8 million) to buy the statue during an auction in September 2007 and decided to donate it back to the mainland on 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China on Dec 20.
