We took a walking between different casinos.First, we went to “Grand Lisboa” for rest rooms. There is only 4 rooms in the lady’s room in such a big casino. So, the line for toilets was credible long !
I was attracted by “ Horse Head” in the main lobby before I left.Macao casino mogul Stanley Ho paid around 8.88 million US dollars to buy “Horse Head” from Sotheby’s. “Horse Head” was made by bronze. The tone is dark. It was not eroded after hundreds years. I was so lucky to see it before Stanley Ho sends it to China.
Because this “horse head” is so expensive, media started to report that 12 animals’ heads from “The garden of gardens”(圓明園). Giuseppe Castiglione (郎世寧,Italian painter at the court of the Emperor) originally wanted to build the sculptures of western nude women, but emperor thought the design was against Chinese ethical. Giuseppe Castiglione redesigned it into 12 animals’ heads of Chinese zodiac. The trouble was that no one knew how to make bronze when he finished design, so he studied all the books and references with workers to build this fountain. Each animal will spray water according to the time it represents and the 12 animals’ heads will spray water all together at noon.
Regarding that patriotic business man bid at incredible price for “Rabbit head” and “Mouse Head” at Sotheby’s but refused to pay. I felt it was nonsense. I always wonder whether those animals’ heads could have been preserved well, if those heads had been in China during “Culture Revolution”. China government and people should appreciate those collectors who preserved Chinese treasures so that we still can see them after 100 years.
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