Mapping China: Visual Arts - Auctions: China Guardian

China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd., established in May 1993, is the earliest auction company to specialize in the sale of Chinese artwork of all varieties. For years, China Guardian has successfully staged more than 300 auctions with more than 200,000 lots sold. China Guardian holds major Spring and Autumn Auctions, as well as its Quarterly Auction series. Regular auction business covers Chinese paintings and calligraphy, porcelain, works of art, Chinese oil paintings and sculptures, rare books, stamps, coins, bronzes mirrors and fine jewelry.

In recent years, several national and international records have been set in China Guardian’s auction rooms. Through the company’s efforts, many national treasures have been bought by national museums from overseas collectors and from private owners at home. Some of the works sold include: Weng’s Collection of Rare Books; Rare Birds, a painting from the Song Dynasty (420-479) Emperor Huizong; a Tang Dynasty (618-907) facsimile of Huaisu’s calligraphy; Calligraphy in Regular & Cursive Script by Song Dynasty Emperor Gaozong; and Zhu Xi’s calligraphy Spring Rain and Chu Shi Song. In the meantime, various auction items have set regional and international records. These include: a silk weaving hand scroll commissioned by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Emperor Qianlong, Red Cliff from Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a rare famille-rose Eight Immortals vase from the Qianlong Reign; Oil paintings such as Chairman Mao Overlooking Guangdong and Eulogy of the Yellow River, as well as numerous stamps and coins.

China Guardian has also worked with the government to establish methods and policies for the export of cultural and artistic works. In the process, China Guardian has gained the respect of the people and the government by pursuing the sale and eventual repatriation of important cultural treasures from foreign collections which has a significant international trend of Chinese cultural reclamation by national collectors and museums. China Guardian’s core commitment to quality, authenticity, and a responsibility to both clients and the nation has consistently earned it high accolades from the national auction business world.

China Guardian is not only graded a “AAA Auction Company”, the highest honor in the industry, but has also been named a “Trustworthy Enterprise” by the Government Bureau of Commerce and Industry.