At China Guardian's spring auction, a hand scroll painting of birds by the Song Dynasty (960-1279) Emperor Huizong was sold for a record-high price of 25.3 million yuan (about US$3 million). The whole auction rung up record total sales of more than 100 million yuan (roughly US$12 million).

"Although there are no striking lots comparable to the Huizong painting, we are offering a number of excellent calligraphy pieces, paintings, furniture pieces, and porcelain works that will surely be attractive to domestic and overseas buyers," said Kou Qin, vice-president of China Guardian.

According to Kou, the coming auction will feature 3,600 precious art works. A preview will be held at the Kunlun Hotel from October 30 to November 1.

Among the most attractive lots in the auction is a 20-volume album of handwritten letters by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) intellectuals and celebrities, including Zhang Bi, Li Yingzhen, Yan Song and Fu Shan.

A collection of the late veteran collector Qian Jingtang (1907-83) from East China's Zhejiang Province, the album is being offered by Qian's family. It includes more than 400 letters in beautiful calligraphy.

Also impressive is the porcelain collection of Ruijintang, the studio of an anonymous Shanghai collector. The 61 porcelains are all precious products of official kilns of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The furniture section will feature a 3.2-metre-high, 1.9-metre-wide wood cupboard with dragon patterns. Thought to have been the private property of a Qing Dynasty prince, the cupboard is seen as one of the best pieces of its kind available for auction. It's value is estimated at 4.5 million to 5.5 million yuan (US$542,169-$662,651).

"The most remarkable ink paintings in the autumn auction are two horizontal hand scrolls by Qing Dynasty master painters Wang Hui and Zheng Banqiao," said Liu Kai, an expert from the Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Department of China Guardian.

The neat landscape by Wang, which portrays the beautiful scenes described in Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) poems, is estimated to be worth 8 million to 10 million yuan (US$963,855-1,204,819). Since the artist Zheng Banqiao seldom made horizontal paintings, the hand scroll by him is regarded as especially valuable among his works, with an estimated worth of 1.2 million to 1.5 million yuan (US$144,578-180,723).

The auction will also include calligraphy and painting works by such 20th century masters as Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian and Lu Yanshao.

Among the 97 oil paintings and sculpture works on the block, the most eye-catching is a portrait by late master Xu Beihong of his former wife Jiang Biwei. The value of the work is estimated at 2.8 million to 3.8 million yuan (US$337,369-457,831).

(China Daily October 21, 2002)