China's art auction market was fully revived in the mid-1990s. The stone appreciation entered the auction market in the form of a special topic, and the impression was that the earliest was the 2003 China Guardian Autumn Auction Porcelain Crafts Special, which was auctioned by a collector in Tianjin and 10 square ancient stones were auctioned together, and finally 6 parties were sold, and the prices were basically at the level of valuation. The highest price was a Qing Chrysanthemum Stone Shanzi (24×9×32cm), estimated at 70,000-90,000 yuan, and the transaction price was 77,000 yuan.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Qingbai Stone Sumiza Taihu Stone
A year ago, in September 2002, Christie's New York Autumn Auction in China Antique Crafts launched the "Ni Liu Zhai" stone appreciation collection special (mostly written in Ding Wenfu's book "Ancient Chinese Stone Appreciation"), a total of more than 50 ancient stones and other works of art, with a total turnover of more than 300,000 US dollars. One of them, the 1.28-meter-high Qingbai stone Sumiza Taihu Shilifeng, sold for 45,000 US dollars, which was about 370,000 yuan at the time, creating a record for the auction of stone appreciation until then.
Lotus seat Taihu Shili Peak
Seven years later, in December 2009, the 20th auction of Guardian Four Seasons launched the first special topic of stone appreciation, and one side also originated from the "Lotus Seat Taihu Stone Standing Peak" of the "Niliuzhai" collector ("Ancient Chinese Stone Appreciation" bibliography), which created a high price of 1.344 million yuan. However, this is not the highest auction record at that time.
Yuan Yushan Pu Black Spirit Bi Stone
In April 2008, sotheby's Spring Auction in Hong Kong launched a special auction for stone appreciation by renowned Taiwanese collector Huang Xuanlong, "Dao Fa Nature: Important Stone Appreciation Collection of Zhai Song Ge", which was also the first appearance of stone appreciation as an auction special auction. One side, "Yuan Yushan Pu Black Spirit Bi Stone", sold a high price of 3.8475 million yuan, creating a record for the auction of stone appreciation. This square stone was originally from a Shanghai collector, and the quality is slightly worse, because on the back there are inscriptions by the Yuan Dynasty scholar Gu Dehui (alias Ah Ying) and the Qing Dynasty painter Wang Shimin - in fact, the inscriptions of the so-called celebrities in ancient times may not be taken seriously, the value is doubled, and the base is not the old match.
Song Tianzhu Peak Yingshi
Later, in cooperation with famous auction houses such as Jiade and Poly in the mainland, Zhai Pavilion launched a number of special auctions for literary houses, among which ancient stone appreciation was also occasionally seen. For example, the 2015 spring auction of Beijing Poly "Qiu Tan Nature - Zhai Song Ge Wen Fang Yun Wu Zhi", one side of the "Song Tianzhu Feng Yingshi" (63cm high seat), the estimated price of 3 million to 5 million yuan, which is also the highest valuation of the stone auction, the final transaction price of 3.56 million yuan. This square stone is from the Japanese Youcaotang collection, the stone name "Tianzhu Peak", probably from the Southern Song Dynasty poet Fan Chengda's "Tianzhu Peak" poem, Fan Chengda said in the preface: "Tianzhu Peak, Yingshi also." A steep and vertical peak has the meaning of high sky. However, whether this fangshi appreciation is related to Fan Chengda, and why it is broken off as Song, it seems that the evidence is insufficient.
Lingbi Stone "Ink Jade Channeling"
Immediately after the successful conclusion of "Daofa Nature: Important Stone Appreciation Collection of Zhai Song Pavilion", the 2008 Autumn Auction of Hangzhou Xiling Printing Society first launched the "China's First Historical Stone Supply Special", many of which were recorded in the book "Chinese Ancient Stone" (our person is the executive editor), and the result was a turnover rate of 84.20%, but the total turnover was only 5.06 million yuan. Among them, the "Biao Wang" is the cover of the side of the Yuan to Ming Lingbi stone "Ink Jade Channeling Spirit" (the name is still taken by our people), from the Shanghai collector, its color is dark as lacquer, no variegated color, the quality is better than jade, unpredictable, natural and stable, extremely rare, although the base stone seat is not the original, it is also an old thing transfer, very fitting, the transaction price is 515,200 yuan.
Song to Qing Qi Lianshi "Bridge Rainbow Diecui"
The main reason why the price of the "China's First Dynasty Stone Supply Special" auction of Xiling Printing Society is not high is the lack of celebrity effect. On the one hand, the provenance of the stone itself is not "famous", on the other hand, the identity of the collector is not revealed. For comparison, Sotheby's Hong Kong Spring Auction 2014 launched the "Gathering - Contemporary Literati Art" special session, in which the highest priced side of the stone was the cover lot Song Zhiqing Qilian Stone "Bridge Rainbow Dicui" (stone length 12.2cm), estimated at HK$1 million to HK$1.5 million, the transaction price reached HK$3.64 million, becoming the "king of the standard" of the entire special auction. The original collector of the stone, Shui Turquoise Mountain House owner Mo Shi, is a British Jewish collector and also a Chinese master, who has a special love for ancient Chinese literature, and this side of the stone appreciation is also accompanied by an ink painting (138×40cm) depicting this stone by Mo Shizhuo. This stone was exhibited at the Fung Ping Shan Museum of the University of Hong Kong in 1986 and was included in the book "Collected Treasures of Literature and Play". However, the early arrival of the Song Dynasty seems to be insufficiently based.
Qing Han white jade carved curly grass pattern stone seat even Taihu Lake stone peak
Although the Xiling Printing Society has also continued to launch special content on stone appreciation since then, the scale has been reduced due to the scarcity of ancient stone appreciation resources, and the so-called first special session for stone offerings in the past has become a masterpiece. It is worth mentioning that at the 2014 Autumn Auction of Xiling Printing Society, "Chinese Garden Art and Stone Carving Special Session", a Qing And Han white jade carved curly grass pattern stone seat lian Taihu Lake Stone Lifeng (288cm high), estimated at 600,000-800,000 yuan, and finally sold for 4.945 million yuan, breaking the stone auction record. This piece of Taihu stone has a peculiar shape, the holes around it are natural, the charm between the ups and downs is unique, and the ancient ruggedness is like a Chinese painting of natural scenery, thick and light, and natural.
When it comes to high-priced stones, people often focus on modeling stones such as the "four famous stones in ancient times", and the pattern stones are often ignored. In fact, what really created the auction record was the pattern stone - the marble screen.
Regarding the classification of ancient stone appreciation, auction companies are generally divided into jade or classical furniture, modeling stones are classified as jade, and marble interludes are classified as classical furniture. Although in the classical furniture, the number of marble screens is not much, but the market performance is mostly good.
As early as September 1996, Christie's Autumn Auction in New York launched the "Chinese Classical Furniture Special", which is a collection of the former California Museum of Chinese Classical Furniture, including a 17th-century marble interstitial screen (215cm high and 181cm wide), with a transaction price of 1.1 million US dollars, which was about 9.13 million yuan at the time. This record has been held until now. Of course, its main value lies in the material and exquisite craftsmanship of huanghuali, as well as the huge size of the friends.
Qingqianlong rosewood inlaid marble large seat screen
Similarly, China Guardian's 2011 Spring Auction "Reading to the Heart - LuMing Room Tibetan Ming-style Furniture" launched a "late Ming and early Qing Dynasty Huanghuali inlaid marble screen" (184.4cm high, 95.2cm wide), the size is smaller than Christie's in New York, the result of the transaction price of 5.52 million yuan. Also China Guardian, in the 2013 autumn auction "Zi Rui Ningxiang - Liu Yu Zhai Rosewood Furniture Collection" special field, a "Qingqianlong Rosewood inlaid marble large seat screen" (height 93cm, width 108cm), is the largest table screen among the rosewood inlaid marble screens, according to its type, craft characteristics should be Qing Palace furnishing utensils. The result was a transaction price of 8.97 million yuan.
Comparing ancient (classical) stone appreciation, it is obvious that the auction price gap between contemporary stone appreciation is still very large. The main reason is that at present, mainstream auction companies have not yet intervened in the auction ranks of contemporary stone appreciation (boutique), and contemporary stone appreciation (boutique) has not formed a valuation system.
This article is written by Yu Ying
Contributing writer for Stone Boundary