Sale by family of 19th century British engineer of ‘duplicates’ of sacred relics he found in India called illegal by Indian government.
Auctioneers Sotheby’s postponed the sale of sacred Buddhist relics in Hong Kong on May 7 at the last minute in response to a demand from the Indian government. New Delhi also demanded the immediate repatriation of the relics.
The “Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha” were to have been one of the highlights of a fortnight of auctions ongoing in Hong Kong that are focused on Asian works of art.
Carved into floral and other motifs, they were unearthed in 1898 in what today is Uttar Pradesh state in India by a British engineer, William Claxton Peppé, in a stupa near the Buddha’s birthplace.
They were found with ash and bones which an inscription in the ancient Pali script described as the “relics of the Buddha, the August One”.
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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