A collection of French treasures, including the Consular Sword, will be part of a display of nearly 300 precious objects at the Palace Museum in Beijing from Tuesday. [Photo/China Daily]

Zhang Xin, a researcher at the Palace Museum, says: "What we have this time are not the most exquisite pieces. But they are the most interesting ones for this exhibition." Among the items on show are a pair of teapots: a French one from mid-19th century inspired by Chinese architectural elements, and a Chinese one painted with enamel in a typical Western style.

There are also some French vanity cases decorated with Chinese motifs and typically Chinese ones at the exhibition, in a bid to show both contrast and similarity.

Zhang says: "France represented high-end fashion in the 19th century, but it was also greatly influenced by Chinese art at that time. And using jade and emerald in art pieces was a popular trend."

Zhang also says that Chinese fans were an indispensable accessory for ladies in France at that time, though they were mainly used by male literati in China then.

A fan depicting an ancient Chinese war scene belonging to a marquise is also on display.