Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Two Qing bronzes fetched a total of 31.4 million euros ($40 million) with fees in Paris tonight after objections from the Chinese government and a legal challenge failed to halt the auction.

The mid-18th-century heads of a rat and a rabbit were offered in the final session of Christie’s International’s three-day sale of the collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his former partner Pierre Berge.

Both made 15.7 million euros with fees, or 14 million euros at hammer price. The sculptures had been expected to fetch about 8 million euros each, said Christie’s. They were bought by Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s international co-head of Impressionist and modern art, taking instructions over the telephone.

The heads, thought to have been designed by the Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione, were among 12 zodiac animals from a water-clock fountain in one of the Imperial summer palaces. The building was set ablaze and its treasures plundered and scattered by British and French troops in October 1860 at the end of the second Opium War.

China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage last week wrote to Christie’s, calling for the auction house not to sell the heads, said China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

A Paris court ruled on Feb. 23 that Christie’s could sell the sculptures after a challenge brought by Chinese cultural defense group, Apace.

Chinese Relations

In a response to the court ruling, Christie’s said in an e-mailed statement: “We support the principle of repatriation of cultural relics and hope that the auction platform can provide an opportunity for these works to return to their home country. Christie’s treasures and greatly respects its relationship with the Chinese government and appreciates the opportunity to grow in China.”

The sale of a tiger head in 2000 from the same fountain by Christie’s rival Sotheby’s sparked protests in Hong Kong initiated by the city’s lawmakers. A horse head offered by Sotheby’s in September 2007 was privately bought by Macau billionaire Stanley Ho for $8.9 million and donated to China.

In 2003, Ho bought the fountain’s boar head at a private sale and donated it to Beijing’s Poly Museum, which also has the monkey and ox. Whereabouts of the others are unknown.

Human Rights

“I am willing to return the heads on one condition,” Berge said to reporters via an interpreter, on Feb. 23, “that the Chinese government respects the human rights of its people, gives liberty to Tibet and welcomes the Dalai Lama.’’

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman responded to the statement yesterday.

“To infringe on the Chinese people’s cultural rights under the pretext of human rights is just ridiculous,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters in Beijing. “We consider the auction to be contrary to the basic spirit of relevant international conventions, and it will seriously damage the cultural rights and national feelings of the Chinese people.”

The 1995 United Nations Unidroit Convention limits claims on stolen cultural artifacts to within 50 years of their theft.

(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn in Paris at sreyburn@hotmail.com.

Last Updated: February 25, 2009 14:34 EST