Ren Xiaohong, a Paris-based lawyer working on the case, said the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris would rule this morning whether the artefacts should be removed from the auction of the art collection of Yves Saint Laurent.
The two bronzes, a rat's head and a rabbit's head, were originally part of a fountainhead depicting the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac in the Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, near Beijing, which was looted by British and French troops in 1860.
The Chinese government, which, along with many Chinese citizens, has criticised the auction. It perceives the destruction of the palace as the most powerful symbol of a historical humiliation the country suffered when western nations tried to force it open in the 19th century – a perception that plays a central role in nationalist sentiment in China today and in Beijing's interactions with the west.