China Guardian 2011 Spring Auction will hold the preview during the period from May 17th to 20th, and have the auction session during the period from May 21st to 25th (For stamps and covers, coins, banknotes and bronze mirrors, the preview will be held during the period from May 10th to 11th and the auction session from May 12th to 17th), covering Chinese painting and calligraphy, porcelain, furniture ,works of art, Chinese oil painting and sculpture, rare books and manuscripts, jade and watches. A total of over 3,700 auction items (For stamps and covers, coins, banknotes and bronze mirrors, there are nearly 5,000 auction items) will be offered. Beijing International Hotel Conference Center is the location for both the preview and auction (For stamps and covers, coins, banknotes and bronze mirrors, the location for preview and auction is Beijing International Hotel).
This spring auction offers a number of rare collection items for collectors. In particular, China Guardian will launch the joint evening session of ancient, modern and contemporary painting and calligraphy entitled “Grand View - Chinese Paintings Highlight” for the first time, offering 32 rare items of Chinese painting and calligraphy. Besides, 5 items listed in the Shi Qu Bao Ji will appear in the ancient painting and calligraphy section. For example, the Lotus Sutra by Qianlong Emperor is a truly rare one. Additionally, the Wild Goose in Lotus Pond by Shen Zhou is also an excellent piece. And there will be dedicated theme sessions, including the “Young Marshal's Literary Pursuits: Painting and Calligraphy from Chang's Family Collection” and the “Original Delight With Ink: Classical Chinese Calligraphy”. Also, there are a variety of dedicated sections, including the Four Wangs, Wu and Yun (six famous artists in Early Qing Dynasty), Yangzhou School and Four Monks in Early Qing Dynasty.
For modern and contemporary painting and calligraphy, the dedicated session entitled “Four Gentlemen: Important Works by Qi, Xu, Huang and Zhang” offers over a hundred excellent works from these four famous artists. And the dedicated session entitled “Gazing at the Last Century: Painting and Calligraphy by Celebrated Politicians, Scholars and Artists” fuses the politics, literature and art into one. And much more will be offered in the following dedicated sessions: “The Zhenru House's Collection”, “Paintings From Zhongxing Villa Collection”, “The Autumn Studio's Collection” “Collection of Fan Painting and Calligraphy”, “Charming Landscape: Five Elaborate Paintings by Lu Yanshao From Private Collection in Singapore”, etc.
In terms of single items, the Eagle Standing on Pine Tree: Four-character Couplet in Seal Script by Qi Baishi is undoubtedly the rarest one. This work is knowingly the largest one by Qi Baishi, and was created to celebrate the sixtieth birthday of Jiang Jieshi after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1946. Besides, there are also other outstanding works including the Flowers and Birds by Qi Baishi, Peonies by Zhang Daqian for Ma Yuying, wife of Zhang Qun, and Guan Yin by Zhang Daqian for the legendary figure Meng Xiaodong in the history of Peking Opera, Sailing on the Xiajiang River by Li Keran at his late years, Horse Training created by Huang Zhou in 1976, and the rare mountains-and-waters painting imitative work Painting After Zhao Ji Handscroll.
For porcelain, jade and works of art, the item attracting the most attention is undoubtedly the Very Rare and Extremely Fine Lacquer Qin Music Instrument with a history of over 1200 years, an old collection of Wang Shixiang. In 2003, this music instrument broke the world record of auction at a price of RMB 8.91 million yuan. Its appearance at this session is bound to become the highlight in the auction session. Additionally, the dedicated session entitled “Collection of Porcelain and Works of Art for Chinese Emperor” offers nearly jade rarities, and each one of them is outstanding, such as the blue-and-white lotus jar of the Yuan Dynasty, the blue-and-white candlestick of Xuande Period in the Ming Dynasty. There are five dedicated sessions for porcelain. The session entitled “Treasures from Imperial Daoguang Porcelain by Wutaishanren” appears for the first time and is dedicated to royal kiln porcelain. Besides, in terms of cultural relics, the session entitled “Fine Works of Art From the Scholar's Studio” is dedicated to the collection of Mr. Dong Qiao, a famous scholar from Hong Kong and renowned Chinese writer. Besides, two sessions dedicated to Huanghuali furniture will be launched, namely “Ming-Strle Furniture From the Collection of Lvmingshi - Inheriting the Past, Embracing the Present-Fine” and “Ming-Style cabinets”. For modern and contemporary porcelain and sculpture, there will be 6 dedicated sessions and nearly 700 excellent items.
For Chinese oil painting and calligraphy, the most prominent one must be the five excellent works by Chen Yifei. Among the five pieces, the Wind of Mountain Village is the leading one and broke the auction transaction record of Chinese oil painting in China Guardian 1994 Autumn Auction. This piece is not only the most important one in the Tibet series of Chen Yifei, but also the most important one in his career as an artist. Other works of art deserving your attention include the most important, largest and ultimate piece of Guan Liang Shimen County, Cai Guoqiang’s Extended Ten Thousand Miles for the Great Wall – Plan 10 for Aliens, Su Xinping’s Landscape in the length of 16m, and Wang Yidong’s Sent Word to Qingshigou. And for sculpture, there will be the “Dedicated Session to Outstanding Chinese Sculpture”.
For rare books and manuscripts, the most prominent one is undoubtedly the 16 volumes of Liang Han Ce Yao Twelve Rolls, which is a manuscript of the Yuan Dynasty. It was extremely famous around the country, and has been recounted as a manuscript of Zhao Mengtiao for four hundred years and collected by famous collectors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties with clear sequence. Besides, the Da Guang Yi Hui Yu Pian Thirty Volumes and New Fang Yu Sheng Lan Seventy Volumes are all important works.
China Guardian launched the session dedicated to watches for the second time, offering the high-level watch reputed as the “World’s King of Watch” for the first time in the domestic auction market.