Saving up for a treasure trove

Thousands of Chinese paintings, calligraphy pieces, chinaware, rare books and manuscripts will be auctioned in the coming two weeks. Guardian quarterly auctions will present more than 160 manuscripts of modern and contemporary celebrities, such as Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, Chiang Kai-shek, the former leader of Kuomintang and Kang Youwei, the esteemed reformer of the late Qing Dynasty.

Various Qing Dynasty chinaware will be another highlight. A pair of gilded colorful Buddhist law wheel from Qianlong period (1736-1795) is expected to attract keen bidding. In 2006, at Hong Kong's Christie spring auction, similar chinaware fetched more than 800,000 yuan.

The Council auction this time focuses on contemporary art. Feature items include Zhou Chunya's Tibet New Generation, which Zhou claimed to be his most important artwork, Yin Chaoyang's Lost Paradise, Zeng Fanzhi's Mask, Wang Guangyi's The North Pole, and Liu Ye's Madonna and Naughty Kids.

The most expensive painting on offer is expected to be Zhu Da's Cypress and Deer. Zhu Da (1626-1705) has been one of the most favorite Chinese ancient artists and his Bottled Chrysanthemum set a record of 31 million yuan earlier this year.

The Council auction began yesterday and continues to Dec 8 at the Beijing International Hotel Conference Center (9 Jianguomennei Street), which also will stage the Guardian auction.

Guardian auctions operating between Dec 13 and 15.

(China Daily 12/06/2008 page6)