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Looted Chinese relics fetch record sum at French auction
13:03, March 30, 2011
An imperial jade seal used by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and a Chinese imperial scroll painting were both bought by anonymous Chinese bidders at record prices during an auction held in Toulouse, France on March 26, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.
The imperial jade seal was bought by a Chinese buyer for 12.4 million euros, setting a new world auction record for seals, according to reports by French media agencies.
The jade imperial seal is made of white Hetian jade with red brown textures and is 7.5 centimeters high and 9.85 centimeters long. There are carvings of intertwined dragons on the top of the seal, and the inscription of Emperor Qianlong is at the bottom. The seal was auctioned for 10 million euros, but the buyer will pay a total of 12.4 million euros after commissions and taxes are added.
At the starting price of 4 million euros, the painting named "Military Review" is the fourth and last part of the series "Paintings of Emperor Qianlong Inspecting the Troops." Eight bidders participated in the initial bidding and when the price reached 14 million euros, three bidders continued to bid. The scroll painting was finally auctioned for 17.8 million euros, but the buyer will pay a total of 22 million euros after commissions and taxes are added.
The painting is a long, colored silk scroll painting, 24 meters long and 69 centimeters wide. It delicately depicts about 9,000 different figures that are shorter than half of a finger length, and the clothes, weapons, flags and drums in the painting are true to life.
The painting was hung in Chonghua Palace of the Forbidden City during the reign of Qianlong and is the only one of four scrolls that were stamped with the name of the court painter. The artwork was looted from the Forbidden City in around 1900 when China was invaded by the Eight-Power Allied Forces and had been kept by a Paris family until the auction.
"The Paintings of Emperor Qianlong Inspecting the Troops" is a fine realistic painting and is among the late work of Giuseppe Castiglione, a court painter of the Qing Dynasty. Realistic paintings depicting figures and events are the most valuable of the court paintings of the Qing Dynasty and were the best way to record figures and events before the invention of cameras.
By People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/98649/7335269.html
13:03, March 30, 2011
An imperial jade seal used by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and a Chinese imperial scroll painting were both bought by anonymous Chinese bidders at record prices during an auction held in Toulouse, France on March 26, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.
The imperial jade seal was bought by a Chinese buyer for 12.4 million euros, setting a new world auction record for seals, according to reports by French media agencies.
The jade imperial seal is made of white Hetian jade with red brown textures and is 7.5 centimeters high and 9.85 centimeters long. There are carvings of intertwined dragons on the top of the seal, and the inscription of Emperor Qianlong is at the bottom. The seal was auctioned for 10 million euros, but the buyer will pay a total of 12.4 million euros after commissions and taxes are added.
At the starting price of 4 million euros, the painting named "Military Review" is the fourth and last part of the series "Paintings of Emperor Qianlong Inspecting the Troops." Eight bidders participated in the initial bidding and when the price reached 14 million euros, three bidders continued to bid. The scroll painting was finally auctioned for 17.8 million euros, but the buyer will pay a total of 22 million euros after commissions and taxes are added.
The painting is a long, colored silk scroll painting, 24 meters long and 69 centimeters wide. It delicately depicts about 9,000 different figures that are shorter than half of a finger length, and the clothes, weapons, flags and drums in the painting are true to life.
The painting was hung in Chonghua Palace of the Forbidden City during the reign of Qianlong and is the only one of four scrolls that were stamped with the name of the court painter. The artwork was looted from the Forbidden City in around 1900 when China was invaded by the Eight-Power Allied Forces and had been kept by a Paris family until the auction.
"The Paintings of Emperor Qianlong Inspecting the Troops" is a fine realistic painting and is among the late work of Giuseppe Castiglione, a court painter of the Qing Dynasty. Realistic paintings depicting figures and events are the most valuable of the court paintings of the Qing Dynasty and were the best way to record figures and events before the invention of cameras.
By People's Daily Online
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/98649/7335269.html