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9 News
08-05-2025
- Business
- 9 News
Auction of jewels linked with Buddha postponed
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Sotheby's has postponed an auction of jewels associated with Buddha's remains after the Indian government opposed the sale and demanded it be halted. The gems for auction were found buried together in reliquaries with the corporeal relics of the historical Buddha and discovered in northern India in 1898, the auction house said. They dated back to around 240-200 BC, it said. But India's Ministry of Culture said in a Facebook post on Tuesday it had issued a legal notice to Sotheby's Hong Kong to demand the immediate halt of the sale, accusing the auction of violating "Indian laws, international norms and UN conventions." This undated photo released by Sotheby's, shows the Pirprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha. (Sotheby's via AP) (AP) In its letter to Sotheby's Hong Kong, posted on Facebook, it said the auction involves sacred Buddhist relics that constitute the inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community. It demanded the repatriation of the relics to the Indian government and a public apology from the auction house and Chris Peppe, a great-grandson of British businessman William Peppe, who excavated the relics. The Indian government warned in the letter that failure to comply would result in legal actions and public advocacy campaigns highlighting the auction house's role "in perpetuating colonial injustice and becoming a party to unethical sale of religious relics." Sotheby's announced the postponement in a statement on Wednesday, acknowledging the matters raised by the Indian government and saying it was done with the agreement of the consignors. Villagers in Hong Kong burn offerings as part of the Buddha's birthday during the Bun Festival in Cheung Chau Island on May 5, 2025, China. (Photo by Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images) (Getty) "This will allow for discussions between the parties, and we look forward to sharing any updates as appropriate," it said. Some of Sotheby's webpages about the auction were no longer available on Wednesday. The Indian Ministry of Culture said on Facebook on Wednesday it was "pleased to inform" that the auction was postponed after its intervention. World India news Religion Hong Kong CONTACT US
BreakingNews.ie
07-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Sotheby's postpones auction of jewels linked to Buddha after backlash in India
Sotheby's has postponed an auction of jewels associated with Buddha's remains after the Indian government opposed the sale and demanded it be halted. The gems were found buried together in reliquaries with the corporeal relics of the historical Buddha and discovered in northern India in 1898, the auction house said. They dated back to around 240-200 BC, it added. Advertisement But India's ministry of culture said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that it had issued a legal notice to Sotheby's Hong Kong to demand the immediate halt of the sale, accusing the auction of violating 'Indian laws, international norms and UN conventions'. The gems were excavated by British man William Peppe (Sotheby's via AP) In its letter to Sotheby's Hong Kong dated Monday, posted on Facebook, it said the auction involved sacred Buddhist relics that constituted the inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community. It demanded the repatriation of the relics to the Indian government and a public apology from the auction house and Chris Peppe. Mr Peppe is a great-grandson of British man William Peppe, who excavated the relics. The Indian government warned in the letter that failure to comply would result in legal actions and public advocacy campaigns highlighting the auction house's role 'in perpetuating colonial injustice and becoming a party to unethical sale of religious relics'. Advertisement India's ministry of culture demanded the repatriation of the relics to the Indian government (Sotheby's via AP) Sotheby's announced the postponement in a statement on Wednesday, acknowledging the matters raised by the Indian government and saying it was done with the agreement of the consignors. 'This will allow for discussions between the parties, and we look forward to sharing any updates as appropriate,' it said. Some of Sotheby's webpages about the auction were no longer available on Wednesday. The Indian ministry of culture said on Facebook on Wednesday that it was 'pleased to inform' that the auction had been postponed after its intervention. Advertisement
Al Jazeera
06-05-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
What are the Piprahwa gems, and why is India trying to stop their auction?
New Delhi says private sale of gems linked to the Buddha is unlawful and demands repatriation from Sotheby's. The Indian government has condemned an auction of ancient Indian gems and issued a legal notice to stop the 'unethical' sale of the relics, which it said should be treated as the sacred body of the Buddha. New Delhi's Ministry of Culture said the auction of the Piprahwa gems in Hong Kong, scheduled for Wednesday, 'violates Indian and international laws as well as United Nations conventions' and demanded their repatriation to India 'for preservation and religious veneration'. The legal writ was served to the Sotheby's auction house and Chris Peppe, one of three heirs of William Claxton Peppe, a British colonial landowner who in 1898 excavated the gems on his northern Indian estate and kept them as family heirlooms. A letter posted on the Ministry of Culture's Instagram account said Peppe, a Los Angeles-based TV director, lacked the authority to sell the relics. Sotheby's, by holding the auction, was 'participating in continued colonial exploitation', it added. The ministry does not believe the relics should go under the hammer, saying the gems 'constitute inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community'. Advertisement What are the Piprahwa gems? The Piprahwa gems date back to the Mauryan Empire, circa 240 to 200 BC. They have been described by Sotheby's as 'one of the most astonishing archaeological finds of the modern era' and 'of unparalleled religious, archaeological and historical importance'. The precious stones consist of thousands of pearls, rubies, topazes, sapphires and patterned gold worked into jewels and maintained in their natural forms. They were originally buried in a dome-shaped funeral monument called a stupa in Piprahwa in modern-day Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state. They are believed to be mixed with some of the cremated remains of the Buddha, who died about 480 BC. The British crown claimed William Peppe's find under the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act, and the bones and ash were given to the Buddhist monarch King Chulalongkorn of Siam in present-day Thailand. Sign up for Al Jazeera Breaking News Alert Get real-time breaking news alerts and stay up-to-date with the most important headlines from around the globe. Subscribe Your subscription failed. Please try again. Please check your email to confirm your subscription By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy protected by reCAPTCHA Most of the 1,800 gems went to what is now the Indian Museum in Kolkata. But Peppe was permitted to retain about a fifth of them, some of which were described as 'duplicates' by British colonial administrators at the time. What the controversy is about The gems are expected to sell for 100 million Hong Kong dollars (US$13m) at Sotheby's in Hong Kong on Wednesday. But the sale has raised eyebrows. Commentators argued that the Piprahwa gems are the heritage of both the Buddha's descendants and of Buddhists worldwide. 'Are the relics of the Buddha a commodity that can be treated like a work of art to be sold on the market?' Naman Ahuja, a Delhi-based art historian, told the BBC. 'And since they aren't, how is the seller ethically authorised to auction them? Advertisement 'Since the seller is termed the 'custodian', I would like to ask – custodian on whose behalf? Does custodianship permit them now to sell these relics?' he asked. For its part, India's government has called on Sotheby's and Chris Peppe to halt the sale of the gems, issue a public apology to Buddhists worldwide and to provide a full disclosure of the provenance of the relics. Failure to comply, according to the letter on the Ministry of Culture's Instagram page, would result in legal proceedings in Indian and Hong Kong courts and through international bodies 'for violations of cultural heritage laws'. The ministry added that it would launch a public campaign highlighting Sotheby's role 'in perpetuating colonial injustice and becoming a party to [the] unethical sale of religious relics'. It said the sellers 'had no right to alienate or misappropriate the asset, … an extraordinary heritage of humanity where custodianship would include not just safe upkeep but also an unflinching sentiment of veneration towards these relics'. The letter also noted that 'the relics of the Buddha cannot be treated as 'specimens' but as the sacred body and originally interred offerings to the sacred body of the Buddha' and the proposed auction 'offends the sentiments of over 500 million Buddhists worldwide'. Earlier this year, Chris Peppe told the BBC that his family explored donating the ancient gems. However, he said an auction seemed the 'fairest and most transparent way to transfer these relics to Buddhists'. Advertisement He also wrote a post on Sotheby's website in February in which he said: 'I wanted the power of these gems to reach everyone, Buddhist or not.' After this week's private sale, he said, 'I hope that many people will be able to see the gems and connect with the Buddhists who gave them over two thousand years ago, with our shared human experience of wonder and awe and with the Buddha and his teachings.' Have such auctions been controversial in the past? Museums in the West have rarely been forced by legal rulings to give up artefacts taken from the Global South during colonial rule. However, some have handed stolen objects back to their countries of origin under public pressure In 2022, for instance, six artefacts looted by British soldiers 125 years ago from Benin City in what is now Nigeria were repatriated from the Horniman Museum in South London to Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. That same year, Germany handed over two Benin Bronzes and more than 1,000 other items from its museums to Nigeria. 'It was wrong to take the bronzes, and it was wrong to keep them,' said Annalena Baerbock, Germany's foreign minister. But instances of successful repatriations are far outnumbered by private auctions of stolen artefacts. In 2020, for instance, Christie's went ahead with the sale of Igbo statues that Nigerian museum officials said were stolen during the country's civil war in the 1960s. Another high-profile case was the sale of a 3,000-year-old quartzite head of the Egyptian 'boy king' Tutankhamun, auctioned off in the United Kingdom despite an outcry in Egypt, which claimed the piece was likely removed from the country illegally. Advertisement Countless antiquities are sold off every year by exclusive auction houses, denying many developing countries their historical patronage.
The Independent
06-05-2025
- The Independent
India demands halt to Hong Kong auction of sacred Buddha relics
India has demanded the immediate suspension of an auction in Hong Kong featuring a portion of Buddhist relics excavated over a century ago, calling the sale illegal and unethical. The relics, listed for auction by Sotheby's Hong Kong on 7 May, include gemstones and ritual items associated with Buddha. The Ministry of Culture announced on Monday that it had served a legal notice to Sotheby's and to Chris Peppe, a descendant of William Claxton Peppé, the British colonial officer who unearthed the relics at Piprahwa in 1898. The government is seeking their repatriation to India, describing them as an inseparable part of the country's religious and cultural heritage. 'These relics, excavated from the Piprahwa Stupa – widely recognised as the ancient city of Kapilavastu, the birthplace of Lord Buddha – hold immense historical and spiritual significance,' the ministry said in its statement. The auction, titled The Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha, Mauryan Empire, Ashokan Era, circa 240–200 BC, features bone fragments, crystal and soapstone reliquaries, gold ornaments and precious stones such as garnets, pearls, and amethysts. They were originally buried in a stupa, a sacred Buddhist funerary mound in Piprahwa, believed to be in present day Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and included offerings said to have been made during the reinterment of the Buddha's remains more than 200 years after his death around 480 BC. An inscription in Brahmi script found on one of the reliquaries links the items to the Sakya clan, the Buddha's family. The majority of the relics were transferred to the Indian Museum in Kolkata in 1899 and have since been designated 'AA' antiquities under Indian law, making their sale or export prohibited. A portion of the bone relics was gifted to the Buddhist monarch, King Chulalongkorn of Siam (now Thailand), while some of the remaining artefacts stayed with the Peppé family. The ministry has accused the auction house of 'participating in continued colonial exploitation' and stated that these relics must not be treated as archaeological specimens but rather as 'the sacred body' of the Buddha, deserving of religious veneration. "These relics – referred to as 'duplicate jewels' – constitute inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community.' the notice read. 'Their sale violates Indian and international laws, as well as United Nations conventions.' A post on the ministry's official X (formerly Twitter) account confirmed that Sotheby's had responded with the assurance that 'full attention' is being given to the matter. However, the auction listing remained active at the time of writing. During a bilateral meeting on 2 May, culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat raised the issue with the UK's secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Lisa Nandy. Mr Shekhawat reportedly urged swift intervention to stop the sale and ensure the relics are returned to India. India's culture secretary also chaired a high-level review meeting on Monday to coordinate further action. The Ministry of External Affairs has been asked to engage through diplomatic channels in both Hong Kong and the UK, while the Financial Intelligence Unit is coordinating with its Hong Kong counterpart to underline the illegality of the auction. The Independent has reached out to Sotheby's for comments. In a post on Sotheby's website, Mr Peppe, who is now based in Los Angeles, stated that he and two cousins inherited the relics in 2013 and began research into their historical context. He maintains that the relics are not corporeal remains of the Buddha but rather offerings from a later period. 'I have not found any Buddhists who claim the gems are corporeal remains,' he previously told The Guardian, adding: 'Legally, the ownership is unchallenged.' However, the Indian government has rejected that interpretation. In its legal notice, it argued that relics placed in stupas are sacred grave goods that cannot be commodified. It called upon Sotheby's and Mr Peppe to issue a public apology and disclose any additional relics still in their possession or previously transferred to other individuals or institutions. The ministry also threatened legal action in Indian and Hong Kong courts and through international bodies, and pledged to launch a public campaign against what it called Sotheby's role in 'perpetuating colonial injustice'. 'We call upon Sotheby's Hong Kong to immediately withdraw the relics from auction and cooperate with Indian authorities to return these sacred artefacts to their rightful place,' the statement concluded.
