Stanley Ho bought bronze pig head relic from NY collector

The revelation comes as doubts about authenticity of another 'treasure' persist

Stanley Ho Hung-sun, Macau's casino magnate, has emerged as the mystery figure who bought a bronze pig head from a New York collector.

A spokeswoman for Shun Tak Holdings confirmed that Mr Ho, the company's major shareholder, financed the purchase of the bronze, a national treasure that was looted from the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 by Anglo-French forces.

But she declined to reveal the cost of the deal, which is believed to be less than $7 million.

It is also understood that Mr Ho visited the Poly Art Museum in Beijing to look at bronze heads of an ox, tiger, and monkey recovered by the Poly Group in two auctions held by Christie's and Sotheby's at a cost of $31 million three years ago.

The Poly Group, which has close ties with the mainland military, exhibited the newly acquired bronze pig head at a high-profile press conference in Hong Kong on Thursday.

The group said it would not be bidding for a bronze dog head from a Hong Kong auction house because it had doubts about its authenticity.