Gift to Evita Peron from Mao Zedong among items from her household missing

An ornately detailed screen given to Evita Peron by Mao Zedong , behind which the Argentine populist diva dressed and undressed, is among thousands of missing items at the heart of a legal battle about to unfold in Buenos Aires.

The wooden dressing screen was given sometime between 1946 and 1952 as a gesture of solidarity between China and the Argentina of Juan Domingo Peron, the late strongman and husband of Evita.

It is one of the treasures missing from a collection of items from the Peron household that were confiscated in 1955 when he was ousted in a coup.

Stored in a local bank, most of the items have disappeared, prompting a lawsuit by Mario Rotundo, whose Funpaz foundation has had legal rights to the objects since 1990.

"There is an enormous amount missing. I'd say 95 per cent of the items are gone," said Rotundo, who has sued Banco Ciudad. Preliminary negotiations over the US$1 billion suit have begun, with a trial expected to begin before year's end.

The three-panelled screen - decorated with touches of gold, silver and ivory - is more than two metres high and three metres across. It was taken from a Peron residence that now serves as the National Library in the high-class Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Recoleta. The screen is not among the 300 or so items still held by the bank.