During the Second Opium War, in October 1860, British and French troops pillaged and destroyed the Summer Palace, the residence of the emperors of the Qing dynasty built between the late 17th and early 18th century. From then on the massive spoils were in circulation on the international market. The remains of the palace were burnt to the ground in 1900. During his stay in China in 1879, the geographer and traveller Alfred Bertrand collected these two modest fragments of roofing on the site of the Summer Palace, already partially in ruins. D. Kunik/MEG