Looted Chinese Silk Embroidery Up for Sale

Posted: February 16th, 2023 | No Comments »

Just happened to see this item listed as up for auction by Hannam’s of Hampshire in England this month with an £80-£120 reserve:

“A 19TH CENTURY CHINESE YELLOW EMBROIDERED SILK COVER Qing. 105 cm square. Note: Sold with paper note, Liberated material from Grand Father Harry Beasley, whilst in the army, from the Winter Palace Peking, during the boxer rebellion.”

Interesting that items like this, obviously looted from the Summer Palace (not “Winter” as the listing says – that’s a whole other story!) still come up so openly… & described as “Liberated” (this appears to be a comment, perhaps ironic – alongwith the Winter Palace error – from a former owner – see below))…see the item and description on the auctioneers site here

BTW: Lieutenant Colonel Harry “Pops” Beasley (1876-1949) served in India, Burma & China (8-Power Allied Army) & on the ANZAC Corps in WW1. He later went on to become a champion contract bridge player.

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