Bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan - Monkey Head

Bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan - Monkey Head

Originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Yuanmingyuan. The bronze statue of the monkey's head represents the hour of Shen (15:00 to 17:00) and is one of the twelve zodiac bronze statues. It was designed by European missionary, Italian Lang Shining, supervised by French Jiang Youren, and produced by Qing court craftsmen. The monkey head bronze statue is renowned for its exquisite casting techniques and the fusion of Eastern and Western art. In 1860, the Anglo French coalition invaded China and set fire to the Yuanmingyuan, causing the monkey head bronze statue to begin to be lost overseas. In the 1980s, it was purchased by China Poly Group for HKD 8.185 million at Christie's auction house and is now housed in the Poly Art Museum.