[INDOLOGY] auction Piprahwa gems

Wed May 7 07:29:00 UTC 2025

Dear all,

I have attached the complete legal notice from the Ministry of Culture, if anyone is interested in it now or in the future. As far as I saw they only posted it on social media, so I figured I'd better grab it while it was easy to find.

Thank you all for the articles you sent when this initially came for auction and for allowing me to "report from the ground" to this email list. It isn't often that I get to dust off my old journalism hat for breaking ancient Buddhist news!

Sadly, despite myself and many others in Hong Kong registering to see the gems one last time today, no one was permitted entry to the exhibition. I am so glad that I got to see them in March. Truly a unique experience.

Best to all,
Patricia
________________________________
From: Westin Harris <wlharris at ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 7, 2025 12:58 PM
To: Patricia SAUTHOFF <sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk>
Cc: Vanessa Sasson <V.Sasson at marianopolis.edu>; Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) <H.J.H.Tieken at hum.leidenuniv.nl>; Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] auction Piprahwa gems

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Dear all,

Following Dr. Sauthoff's reportage, Reuters just announced the same...

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/sothebys-postpones-auction-gems-linked-buddha-after-india-threatens-legal-action-2025-05-07/

Sincerely,

Westin Harris
Ph.D. Candidate
Study of Religion
University of California, Davis
https://religionsgrad.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris<https://religions.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris>

2021 Dissertation Fellow,
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies

Sarva Mangalam.

On Tue, May 6, 2025 at 7:52 PM Patricia SAUTHOFF <sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk<mailto:sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk>> wrote:
Dear all,

I am at Sotheby’s now. The official word of cancellation came in only a few minutes before the auction was slated to begin. It is currently officially only “postponed.”

Patricia Sauthoff
司徒 雛菊
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Hong Kong Baptist University
________________________________
From: Vanessa Sasson <V.Sasson at marianopolis.edu<mailto:V.Sasson at marianopolis.edu>>
Sent: Tuesday, May 6, 2025 7:49:29 PM
To: Patricia SAUTHOFF <sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk<mailto:sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk>>; Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) <H.J.H.Tieken at hum.leidenuniv.nl<mailto:H.J.H.Tieken at hum.leidenuniv.nl>>; Indology List <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Subject: Re: auction Piprahwa gems

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Dear colleagues,

The BBC also did a piece on the auction this morning:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vn24j3v2jo

John Strong (who is cited in the Guardian piece) wrote a wonderful chapter about these jewels/relics that some of you might be interested in: see his chapter, "Beads and Bones: The Case of the Piprahwa Relics," in Jewels, Jewelry and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary, ed. Vanessa R. Sasson (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2021), 185-207.

Cheers,

Vanessa R. Sasson

Religious Studies

Marianopolis College

________________________________
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info<mailto:indology-bounces at list.indology.info>> on behalf of Patricia SAUTHOFF <sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk<mailto:sauthoff at hkbu.edu.hk>>
Sent: Tuesday, May 6, 2025 6:08:20 AM
To: Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman); Indology List
Subject: [BULK] Re: [INDOLOGY] auction Piprahwa gems

Dear Herman,

Thank you for sharing this update. The auction is still at this time scheduled according to Sotheby's. I plan to attend tomorrow if the action goes ahead.

https://www.sothebys.com/buy/2320479f-3f71-4a30-904d-268b0c40cfdc/lots/7e2a9c38-e1f0-4bb2-bde7-82452dc0bd37

Patricia Sauthoff
司徒 雛菊
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Hong Kong Baptist University
________________________________
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info<mailto:indology-bounces at list.indology.info>> on behalf of Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Sent: Tuesday, May 6, 2025 5:26:45 PM
To: Indology List <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] auction Piprahwa gems

CAUTION! EXTERNAL EMAIL (not being sent from @hkbu email system): Do not click links, open attachments, or respond to it unless you trust the email source/verify the identity of the sender by other means.

Dear List members,

In todays Guardian the above article on the auction of the Piprahwa gems appeared. The action is planned for 7 May. I am not sure if the link works. But the Guardian can be freely read on the internet.

Herman

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/05/india-tries-to-halt-auction-of-piprahwa-gems-found-with-buddhas-remains

Herman Tieken
's-Herenstraat 66
3155 SL Maasland
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)10 7617502
00 (0)6 14652798
website: hermantieken.com<http://hermantieken.com/>

The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2023.
https://primusbooks.com/ancient/the-asoka-inscriptions-analysing-a-corpus-by-herman-tieken/

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