Sotheby’s: Qing Dynasty Scroll Could Fetch $10M
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A Qing Dynasty imperial scroll that shows China’s Emperor Qianlong leading 16,000 troops may fetch more than $10.2 million in Hong Kong, the auction house Sotheby’s said.
The 15.5-meter Dayue Tu is the third of four hand scrolls commissioned by Qianlong (reign: 1735-96) in 1746 to show his military might, according to Sotheby’s. Two of the scrolls are missing and a third is in Beijing’s Palace Museum, Sotheby’s, which has its main salesrooms in New York, said.
The scroll is among the top lots in Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale of 1,500 paintings, gems, and antiques that may fetch more than $256 million in October.
The scroll, previously sold by Sotheby’s rival Christie’s International for about $3.84 million in April 2004, was consigned by an Asian private collector, Sotheby’s Hong Kong-based head of Chinese ceramics, Nicolas Chow, said in an interview.
The auction market’s penchant for museum-quality works was shown at Christie’s Hong Kong sale of antiques in May, when 15 rare Qing Dynasty imperial clocks fetched more than seven times their presale estimates while lesser pieces languished.
At the coming auction, Sotheby’s said it also will offer an Emperor Qianlong jade-hilted saber and scabbard worth more than $5.12 million. The curved-blade saber bears Qianlong’s reign mark, and the panel on the reverse depicts a dragon rising among clouds, Sotheby’s said. The item was last offered at auction by Sotheby’s in April 2006 for $5.2 million, Mr. Chow said.
The auction house said it will also offer Qianlong imperial seals from the estate of French collector Emile Guimet (1836-1918). The star piece of the Guimet collection is a white-jade seal featuring two intertwined dragons and bearing four Chinese characters that mean “The Imperial Hand of Qianlong,” which is expected to sell for more than $6.4 million.
The items will be offered on October 8 in Hong Kong. The city, which levies no tax on artworks, is the top market for Chinese ceramics traded outside mainland China. The sale is part of a four-day auction starting October 4.
Sotheby’s and Christie’s hold biannual auctions in Hong Kong, the third-largest auction market after New York and London.
