Gianguan Auctions Offers Qing and Yuan Dynasty Ceramics at Asia Week Sale

NEW YORK , New York -- 05 March 2012

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Qing Dynasty Famille-Rose Yellow Ground Double-Walled Reticulated Jumping Fish Vase 清 乾隆 粉彩黃地冬青釉透雕開光魚躍青花套瓶 (大清乾隆年製)六字三行篆書青花款

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Detail of the Yuan Dynasty octagonal Meiping unearthed in Hebei Province, 1964

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Bronze recumbent buffalo inlaid with silvery phoenix motifs accented with incised Leiwen

(ArtfixDaily.com) 

When the afternoon session of Gianguan Auctions' Asia Week sale opens on Sunday, March 18, all eyes will be on the yellow Qing Dynasty famille-rose double-walled vase similar to the one that commanded £ 43 million ($69.3 million) in Bainbridge last fall. 

Carrying an estimate that is offered only by request, the rare, reticulated vase is a masterpiece of Qing Dynasty potters, Kwong Lum, proprietor of Gianguan Auctions stated. Of ovoid form, the vase has a flaring neck decorated with ruyi and bands of floral bloom and twin fish. Jumping fish carved in relief amidst incised turbulent waves decorate the vase's body. An inner mallet vase in underglazed blue with scrolling floral sprays can be seen through the openwork piercings.

Preceding it is a seldom-seen Yuan Dynasty octagonal blue and white Meipng portraying six legendary Chinese figures. Unearthed in Hebei Province in 1964, the vivid free-hand motifs depict Chinese figures riding a horse, carrying a sword, carrying a lute or a flower basket amid bamboo and rocks. Similar works are referenced in the "Encyclopedia o Historic Relics, Volume of Porcelain," Plate 544/Page 330, complied by China's National Bureau of Cultural Relics Administration. 

Other highlights include a dodecahedral Junyao twelve-petal planter with an extraordinary reddish-purple glaze in a cascading water effect. Both the design and the glaze represent the highest achievement of Junyao craftsmanship in the Southern Song Dynasty. 

Since only one buyer can own the planter, under bidders will take advantage of values among the mid-range Chinese porcelains. Among these is a rare Wanli period, Ming Dynasty Zhadou vessel of copper red undulating waves and blue and white mythical beast.

Leading the antique bronze offerings is a Phoenix-head ewer with gold inlaid phoenix motifs. Well-cast as a phoenix standing facing forward with open beak as spout holding and a dragon tail handle, the bulbous ewer is then gold inlaid with a phoenix in flight encircled with clouds, birds and mythical beasts. On the side, are inscriptions and dragon motifs.

A bronze recumbent buffalo inlaid with silvery phoenix motifs accented with incised Leiwen, is another fine example of the early art casting bronze as is a bronze ritual food vessel, Fang Ding, set upon four curling elephant trunk legs and cast with taotie masks.

Among the Chinese niche specialties is a collection of rhinoceros horn carvings, including an exquisite pair of cylindrical perfumers featuring openwork carvings of writing dragons chasing pearls.

Subsequent rhino horn items include naturalistically carved wind cups translucent in color, with natural veining.

Carved jades, those perennial favorites that are climbing in value, are well represented.  For example, thre is a white jadeite Qilin resting on its haunches and a finely reticulated Hetian white jade finger-citron vase, with a monkey clambering out a rock vase.  And several glass jadeite lavender bracelets are well within reach.

Meanwhile, a collection of Chinese seals will excite collectors of intricately detailed miniatures. Included are a Tianhuang columnar seal with figural landscape carving, a pair of columnar icy-glazed ShouShan stone seals and a Jixue seal (Dahongpoo) carved with poem by Du Mu, Tang poet, Southern Spring.

The Gianguan Auctions sale will be conducted in two sessions. Eighty-six Chinese scroll paintings will be offered in the morning. The Chinese Ceramics and decorative arts go off at 2:00 p.m. Previews run from Saturday, March 10 through Saturday, March 17, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Gianguan Auctions, formerly Hong Kong Auctions NY, is located at 295 Madison Avenue, New York City. Catalogs and condition reports are available by calling 212-226-2660.

Press Contact:

Mary Ann Lum

Gianguan Auctions

2128677288

info@gianguanauctions.com

50 Tael "Yuan Bao"Sycee Ingot of Khubilai Khan

The April 2012 Hong Kong Auction

Lot #20605. CHINA. Yuan Dynasty Zhi Yuan. 50 Tael "Yuan Bao" Ingot, Year 14 (1277).

50 Tael "Yuan Bao" Sycee Ingot of Khubilai Khan.

Description:

1894 gms. Khubilai Khan (the fifth Great Khan, grandson of Ghengis Khan) (1260-94). BMC-unlisted; Chen-14; NI Bulletin-Vol.45 Nos. 7/8, pg. 125/9(this sycee pictured); Pictorial Yuanbao-unlisted. Dated the 14th year of the Zhiyuan era (1277), inscribed Yangzhou (Jiangsu) Salt market (tax), casting official: Liu Sheng, silver official: Wang Ying, silversmith: Hou Junyong, weight: 50 lang, purity level ten, Treasury official Meng Gui, silversmith She Yuan, Mai Ye, silver treasury three, with denomination at upper left and ruler's name and date at lower center. Inscription in grass and orthodox style scripts, inscribed "Yuan Bao" [Treasury of the Yuan (Dynasty)] cast into reverse. This type of sycee was recorded by Marco Polo in his travels through China. From 1260 to 1264 Khubilai Khan used the era name "Zhongtong". Beginning in 1264 he took the reign title (era name) Zhiyuan. It would not be until seven years later, in 1271, that he would name the country Yuan. This ingot is marked Zhiyuan which places it in the Yuan Dynasty and with this title places the year 14 as (1277). Experts suggest that approximately ten of these Yuan Bao 50 Tael ingots are known to exist, seven of which are accounted for in museums. EXTREMELY RARE and historically very important.VERY FINE.Ex: Ponterio & Associates, Inc. A division of Bowers and Merena auction #154 June 2010, lot #8278 where it sold for $64,900.00.

Estimate:

$50,000 - $75,000

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Lyrics as literature

Ohio State professor offers new perspective on cultural diversity

Interpreting song lyrics as a literature device can aid in furthering and bettering the understanding of cultures during different time periods and in relations to different groups of individuals, an Ohio State University professor said.
In “Whose Afraid of Khubilai Khan? A New Perspective on Diversity in Yuan Chinese Musical Culture,” a lecture by Patricia Sieber, Ph.D., and associate professor of East Asian Languages and Literature at Ohio State University stated that lyrics of ancient songs can been viewed as literature and used as a tool to understand cultural diversity.
“We should see these songs as one chapter in the unfolding history of Chinese as a world literary language,” Sieber said.
Sieber explained the culture of music and song in China during Marco Polo’s time. Although the melodies of many songs have been lost, most of the lyrics survived, but these lyrics can help understand diversity in a different time and give insight into a medieval diversity that is seemingly understated.
During the time of Marco Polo’s stay at the palace of Khubilai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty during the thirteenth and 14th century, he recorded in his journals on what occasions music was played and why music was played.
The lyrics to these songs were used for major court functions such as royal birthdays, New Year’s celebrations and for court audiences such as when Khubilai Khan was entertaining foreign ambassadors, according to Sieber.
Many times, these musical events included the same songs which were sung acapella by women, who also were active in the urban musical culture during the Yuan period. The participation by women are examples of diversity and equality in Yuan culture, Sieber stated.
The inspiration for these lyrics are diverse from the palace, to urban and rural life, as well as the different ethnicity’s that were united under the Yuan dynasty. Due in part to the fact that song writers and musicians were relocated to the capital, many aspects of their local culture influenced their songs.
“What is important here, is seeing this urban and rural origin, is the imperial heritage for this song writing,” Sieber said.
In evaluating these song lyrics as literature, a new appreciation for medieval diversity in historically and socially specific ways is created.
By studying these lyrics there is a distinct picture of the different people present and influential throughout Asia during Polo’s time there.
In this period, many writers may not have been of Chinese ethnicity, but scholars accredit these songs to the Chinese because those writers were culturally stimulated, Sieber said, adding that the songs and lyrics are the dynamic creation of those who lived during the Yuan dynasty.
“In short, what I am trying to suggest is that these songs might be yet another reason why world historians might justly claim that the Mongol empire was one of the transformative cultures in modern age,” Sieber said.
Lyrics from the Yuan period can be used to understand the relations between different people throughout Asia such as students, military officials and artists, who all participated in songwriting as well as locals and non-locals in that community, Sieber said.
Many different members of society were educated and specialized in writing lyrics, continued Sieber.
Through studying these lyrics, Sieber stated that many conventional concepts characteristic of Yuan culture do not correlate with more modern understanding of ethnic discrimination, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism.
“We need to rethink the way we view how these songs play a role in world literature and in world history,” she said.
Source: Rebel Yell

Museum to be built on remains of Yuan Dynasty's earliest capital

HOHHOT, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Construction of a museum dedicated to the Yuan Dynasty's (1271-1368) upper capital of Xanadu is expected to be completed in June next year, a local official said Sunday.

Gao Jiaxin, a spokesman for the Zhenglan Banner (county) government, said that the museum, located near the city's remains in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, will house more than 200 relics unearthed from excavations of the site.

The remains of the city are on China's application list for world heritage status. UNESCO is scheduled to vote for new entries for its world heritage list at the World Heritage Conference in June next year.


The ancient city was built by Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan during the 13th and 14th centuries and is the earliest Yuan Dynasty capital. The layout of the ancient city demonstrates the merging of Mongolian and Han cultures.

The ruins were opened to tourists in July this year.

Gao said the museum will use modern technology to give visitors a more vivid picture of how the city was built, as well as the life and culture of the time.

Yuan Dynasty "Mantou Kiln" under reconstruction

A "Mantou Kiln" of the Yuan Dynasty in Jingdezhen, China's porcelain capital in Jiangxi Province, is undergoing reconstruction.
This kind of "Mantou Kiln" is named after the steamed buns very popular in China. And over the centuries, these kilns witnessed the rise and decline of the porcelain industry some 1600 years ago.
However, despite the great contributions the "Mantou Kiln" helped to make in ancient times, especially during the Yuan Dynasty, this method of porcelain production has long been abandoned in Jingdezhen.
The ongoing reconstruction of the "Mantou Kiln" will merge the architecture style of the Yuan Dynasty with traditional styles from the Ming dynasty.
The refiring ceremony of the "Mantou Kiln" will be held in October.

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Site of Yuan Dynasty capital to open on July 15

Site of the Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital (Shangdu), also known as Xanadu, has been prepared for the application to be considered a World Heritage in 2012. It will be open to the public on July 15, said Liu Xinle, deputy governor of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in a government work report.
With a 740-year history, the site is located in Xilin Gol League of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 275 kilometers north of Beijing. In 1260 AD, Kublai Khan found the capital of the Yuan Dynasty here and four years later, he found another capital called Dadu (Middle Capital), geographically corresponding to today's Beijing.
Shangdu is among the few cities established by nomadic nations in history. And the site is also regarded as the best-preserved nomadic cultural heritage.

Editor:Wang Chuhan |Source: People's Daily

Yuan Dynasty Museum opens

BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- A museum featuring archeological and cultural items from Yuan Zhongdu, one of the capitals of the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD), opened to visitors Saturday in north China's Hebei Province.

Zhongdu - meaning "middle capital" - was established as one of the three Yuan Dynasty capitals in 1308. The other two were Shangdu and Dadu.

Rebelling farmers burnt the palaces to the ground in an uprising in 1358.

Covering an area of 4.6 hectares, the museum, about 265 kilometers northwest of Beijing, displays more than 500 cultural relics. It also has on display replicas of ancient buildings.

China Yuan Dynasty 2 Kuan Note Sold for Over $180,000

Yuan Dynasty, 2 kuan cash note, ND (1335-1340), black text on grey mulberry bark paper, red seal top center, two strings of 10 cash coins at center.

This note was sold for HK$1,200,000 (US$154,025) plus buyer's premium at Spink's January 22, 2011 Hong Kong auction. The price including buyer's premium is HK$1,405,050 (US$180,349).

This Yuan Dynasty 2 Kuan (1335-1340) note predates the more well known Ming Dynasty 1 Kuan note by several decades.

The earliest paper money in the world was produced by the Tang Dynasty and the Sung Dynasty (618-1279) for the sake of practical expediency. These "flying cash" notes (called because they blew away in the wind!) were for local use, mainly in Szechuan, and could be converted into cash. Unfortunately, none of these earlier notes has survived. The practice of using paper money was continued by the Chin Dynasty (1115-1234) who established a paper currency bureau in Kaifeng. Later after the Mongol invasion of China, the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368) carried on the practice of issuing "paper currency". But due to excessive printing, the value of this currency was severely diminished. Examples of the Yuan Dynasty notes are extremely rare and the condition tends to be poor. This note is exceptional for the type and is an important discovery.
Source:Some Interesting Facts About Paper Money

Site of the Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital at the Unesco World Heritage List?

To play video, click HERE.
As the competition by various cultural and natural attractions heats up to be listed as a World Cultural Heritage, two cases stand out as strong contenders. Yuannan province's Chengjiang fossils site, and the site of Inner Mongolia's Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital have both made application to UNESCO to make the coveted list in 2012. Let's find out what makes these sites so special.
Chengjiang Fossil Site has been hailed as an aggregation of ancient biological species. In July 1984, animal species from the Cambrian period around 530 million years ago were found here, as a testimony of the breakout of life during this period. Experts have extolled the site as an outstanding example of reflecting the evolution of life in the world's bio-sphere.
Site of the Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital, located in the Xilingol League of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is where Ghinggis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan established the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty during the 13th and 14th century. It's the earliest Yuan dynasty capital and also prominent for its intact status. The layout testifies to the merging of Mongolia and Han cultures as it features characteristics of both nationalities.

Source: CCTV

Split Yuan painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" to be reunited

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Premier Wen Jiabao voiced his hope at the end of last year's NPC session, that the 14th century Yuan Dynasty painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" might at last be restored. The artwork is in two separate pieces, one held by the Chinese Mainland and the other by Taiwan. Now, after discussions and efforts contributed by both sides across the straits, the painting is about to be displayed in the Taipei Palace Museum in its entirety.
Representatives from the Zhejiang Provincial Museum and the Taipei Palace Museum signed the memo on Sunday. Both sides agreed that the ancient painting will be displayed in its entirety at an exhibition in the Taipei Palace Museum from June 1st to September 25th.
The exhibition marks the first time for the two parts to be reunited since they were torn apart and nearly destroyed 360 years ago. Part of the painting is housed at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, while the other part is held at the Taipei Palace Museum.
Dwelling in the Fu Chun Mountains" was created by painter Huang Kungwang of the Yuan Dynasty. The ancient piece is considered to be the epitome of literati landscape painting, and has had an enormous influence on later eras.
The scroll depicts an idealized panorama of the Fu Chun Mountains, west of Hangzhou, to which Huang Kungwang returned in his later years following a long absence.
Source: CCTV

Related stories:
26-10-2010: Fuchun painting "reunited"
26-10-2010: Experts discuss ancient painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains"
28-03-2010: China issues stamps to pay tribute to "Scenery of Fuchun Mountain"
25-01-2010: Copy of Huang Gongwang’s "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains"