The bronze monkey head on display. 
 
 
The bronze tiger head on display. 
 
 
The bronze ox head on display. 
 
 
The bronze pig head on display.  
 

FOUR bronze animal heads looted from Yuanmingyuan and purchased back at auctions are on show at the Artron Art Gallery until Sunday. As part of the Sixth China （Shenzhen） International Cultural Industries Fair （ICIF）, the exhibition — featuring the ox, monkey, tiger and pig — is open free of charge. Loaned by the Beijing-based Poly Art Museum, the statues are under 24-hour armed guard.

The 12 zodiac bronze animal heads were originally installed on stone statues near Dashuifa, built in 1759. Commissioned by Emperor Qianlong （1711-1799）, Yuanmingyuan was a garden of gardens with more than 1,000 palaces and numerous art treasures build on a tract of land the size of 600 soccer fields. Giuseppe Castiglione, better known by his Chinese name Lang Shining, was entrusted with overseeing construction.

The stone statues, with human bodies and zodiac animal heads, were designed as a fountain clock, with each zodiac animal spouting water at the corresponding hour. For instance, the rat head would spout water at the start of the zi hour （11 p.m.-1 a.m.）.

The zodiac animal heads, together with many other cultural relics, were looted or destroyed by British and French invaders in 1860. Since then, the looted relics have been regarded as a mark of shame by many Chinese people.