The "mysterious buyer" who purchased the rabbit and rat heads from the Yuanmingyuan Palace on February 25 via a telephone commission was revealed yesterday: Cai Mingchao, the collection consultant of the China Special Foundation for the Salvage of Lost Overseas Cultural Relics and General Manager of Xiamen Xinhe Art Company.
The China Special Foundation for the Salvage of Lost Overseas Cultural Relics held a press conference in Beijing yesterday. "At that moment, I thought every Chinese person would have stepped forward; it just happened to be me, and I simply fulfilled my responsibility. But I must emphasize that this payment cannot be made," Cai Mingchao stated at the conference.
After Cai Mingchao announced that he "would not make the payment," the Christie's department responsible for auctioning the rabbit and rat heads from the Yuanmingyuan Palace issued a statement saying that they would not comment on the identity of the consignor or the buyer, nor would they comment on or speculate about the next steps to be taken regarding this event.