A view of Grand Palais during the auction by Christie's Monday, Feb. 23, 2009. in Paris, where 733... 
(AP)
Two rare bronze sculptures that disappeared from China nearly 150 years ago — and demanded back by Beijing — sold for millions Wednesday as an auction of art works owned by the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent concluded with dazzling sales of nearly $500 million.
The collection of Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Berge, broke several world records in a three-day "sale of the century" that amassed more than $484 million (euro373 million), said the organizer, Christie's.
That was well over the euro200 million-euro300 million ($250 million-$380 million) the 733-piece sale had been expected to fetch. Berge told reporters at the closing news conference he was "very, very happy with the result."
"I considered that with the death of Yves Saint Laurent that this collection had reached its end, that it was finished," Berge said. "I am sure that those who bought these works of art are going to welcome them ... with the same passion that Yves and I had during so many years."
Saint Laurent, who is widely credited with modernizing women's wardrobes by popularizing ladies' pants, died in June at age 71 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
The disputed bronze fountainheads — heads of a rat and a rabbit that disappeared from China's Summer Imperial Palace in 1860 — were sold for euro14 million ($18 million) each to an unidentified telephone bidder or bidders.
Christie's executives declined to name the winning bidders, comparing the auctioneer's duty to protect buyers' privacy to a doctor's duty to protect that of his patient.
Berge added only that "it was not me."
China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage wrote to Christie's last week urging it to stop the auction, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. An agency spokesman said Christie's had replied, but declined to discuss specifics, the report said.
Berge insisted the auction should go ahead as planned, and on Monday a French judge refused a request to halt the sale of the artifacts.
