Greek royal auction on despite protest -Christie's

ATHENS, Jan 23 (Reuters) Greece today tried to stop Christie's from auctioning a Greek royal collection until it explained how it came by the artworks but the global auction house said the items were all legally obtained.

Greece has threatened legal action unless Christie's shelves the London auction on January 24-25 and explains how it got about 850 paintings and silver and Faberge items dating back to the 18th century.

''Their exact origin and how they came to Christie's for auction has not been made public,'' Culture Minister George Voulgarakis told reporters. ''Those participating in the auction should know that we will exercise our legal rights.'' Christie's issued a statement saying it was suprised by the last minute request. It said the items were legally obtained and the sale would proceed.

''We see no reason for the sale not to go ahead as planned,'' it said. ''The sale has attracted extensive international interest.'' The collection of King George I, who ruled Greece from 1863 until 1913, comes from the summer palace of Tatoi near Athens.

The items, some estimated to fetch up to 250,000 pounds were released to ex-king Constantine in 1991.

Greece works hard to repatriate pillaged art from around the world but this row also highlights the country's uneasy relations with its former royals, who remain unpopular more than 30 years after the monarchy was abolished in a referendum.

According to the ex-king's Web site, the items were the personal property of members of the Greek royal family and are no longer in his possession.

Constantine, who fled the country after briefly cooperating with the 1967-1974 military junta and lived in exile for decades, has fought lengthy court battles to get back some of his property. In 1991, the then ruling conservatives allowed him to export the contents of Tatoi.

Voulgarakis said that although Christie's has given a detailed description of the items to be auctioned, it has not said how they came into its possession.

''It is clear that any auction house's internal rules cannot be above laws and international conventions,'' he said. ''Such things don't happen in civilised countries.'' Greek officials said they hoped their intervention would also deter potential buyers of Greek art of dubious origin.

''Some of these items have the Greek state seal on them,'' one official said. ''We are sending a message to anyone who might want to sell items from our national heritage: you will have to face us.'' REUTERS SY MIR RAI2146