Australian officials have repatriated the looted heads of two statues from the Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1127) to China, according to China Daily. The sculptures depict a civil official and a military official and were taken from imperial mausoleums near Kaifeng, the Song Dynasty capital in central China.
Chinese Ambassador to Australia Liu Jinsong said the statues once stood guard at ancient tombs, with the civil official originally at the Yongchang Mausoleum and the military official at the Yongyu Mausoleum. The National Gallery of Australia acquired the sculptures in 1995. China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration requested their return in 2025.
Speaking at the handover, Liu said the return marks the beginning of a new phase rather than a conclusion. «The return of these two statues is not the end of their story», he said. «It is a new beginning for research, conservation, and cultural heritage».
The case highlights the long-running dispute over artifacts removed from China during periods of looting and foreign acquisition, and the role of museums in reviewing their holdings when provenance is challenged. For researchers, the statues are expected to offer new material for study of Northern Song funerary sculpture and the imperial tomb complexes near Kaifeng, where they originally stood.
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