Looted Chinese horse head to go under the hammer

HONG KONG, Sep 5 (Reuters) A rare bronze horse's head plundered by British and French troops from Beijing's old Summer Palace will be put on sale next month in an auction likely to fetch 10 million dollars and stir nationalist feelings in China.

The statue, which belongs to a Taiwan collector, is one of 12 bronze heads of zodiac animals which graced a water-clock fountain in the old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, which was destroyed by the British and the French in 1860.

The head, billed as ''rare and magnificent'' with details such as a flowing mane, is expected to be the star of Sotheby's autumn auction sales in Hong Kong, which start on October 9.

But experts at Sotheby's concede the sale of this looted treasure might stir up indignation and nationalist feelings in China, as did the sale of several other bronze heads from Yuanmingyuan in 2000, which were eventually bought by Chinese.

''I'm sure there'll be a lot of that (patriotic feelings) within China itself... but I do not believe this time round the outcry will be as severe,'' said Kevin Ching, Sotheby's Chief Executive Officer for Asia.

''One ceramic vase looks like another, you can't tell one from the other. Whereas these animal heads are unique so they stand out and therefore are more easily identifiable as a symbol of patriotism and a symbol of the weakness of the Manchu empire,'' Ching added, referring to China's northern rulers at the time.

China's growing affluence and ranks of antique collectors keen to buy back their historical heritage suggests the likely buyer would be Chinese, Ching said.

Currently, the whereabouts of only seven heads are known including four -- the tiger, monkey, ox and boar -- which are on display at a museum in Beijing. The rat and rabbit remain in a private European collection.

REUTERS LPB BST1530