Bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan - horse head

Originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Yuanmingyuan. It represents noon (11:00 to 13:00) and is one of the twelve bronze statues of the Chinese zodiac. It was designed by European missionary, Italian Lang Shining, supervised by French Jiang Youren, and produced by Qing court craftsmen. Known for its exquisite casting techniques and fusion of Eastern and Western art. In 1860, the Anglo French coalition invaded China and burned down the Old Summer Palace, leading to its loss overseas. In 2007, he was successfully recovered by patriotic Stanley Ho in Hong Kong with HK $69.1 million and donated to the country. On November 13, 2019, it was officially donated to the National Cutural Heritage Administration and allocated to the Beijing Yuanmingyuan Management Office for collection