China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd., or simply China Guardian (), is a

mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...

auction house that specialises in the auction of Chinese artwork of all types. It is particularly known for its sale of Chinese calligraphy and ink paintings. First founded in May 1993 by Chen Dongsheng, China Guardian is China's oldest art-auction firm. China Guardian was a leader of the Chinese art auction market until the emergence of Beijing Poly International Auction Co Ltd in the mid-2000s. China Guardian is now considered to be Mainland China's 'number 2 auctioneer' behind Beijing Poly International Auction. The auction house was also reported to be the world's 4th largest auction house as at November 2012. The current CEO and managing director is Hu Yanyan, who was included in a 2015 Financial Times list as one of the five most powerful women in Asia's art world. Aside from its headquarters in Beijing and offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, China Guardian also has offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and North America (New York and Canada).

Formation, structure and target market

When China Guardian was first established in 1993, it focused primarily on the Mainland Chinese market until it decided to expand to Hong Kong in 2012. The Chinese artwork regularly sold by China Guardian includes Chinese paintings, calligraphy, porcelain, furniture, sculptures, rare books, rubbings, jewellery and watches. Approximately 60% of China Guardian's sales are in the categories of ink painting and calligraphy. China Guardian insists that it does not purchase and resell art works; instead China Guardian generates its revenue solely from commission fees on transactions. As of July 2016, China Guardian owns a 24% stake in Taiking Life Insurance Co. Taiking Life Insurance Co, in turn, owns a 13.5% stake in the British auction house

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

. Taiking Life Insurance Co and China Guardian were both founded by Chen Dongsheng. In the past 23 years, China Guardian has successfully held more than 1,200 auctions, with a total sales volume of nearly 50 billion yuan. Nearly 450,000 items were sold at the China Guardian's auctions.

Notable auctions

Qianlong The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

edition of LantingTu in silks and gold thread sold at the 2004 Spring Auctions for 35.75 million yuan (US$5.14 million). Vase painted with patterns of eight immortals crossing the sea made from period of

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

sold at the 2006 Spring Auctions for 35.75 million yuan (US$5.14 million). Ping’an Tie by ancient Chinese calligrapher Wang Xizhi sold at the 2010 Autumn Auctions, transaction price: 308 million yuan (US$46.60 million).

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

framed bed made in Huanghuali wood with six horseshoe legs and cloud clusters patterns sold at the 2010 Autumn Auctions for transaction price 43.12 million yuan (US$6.21 million). Fuxi-style Chinese

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

from

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

sold at the 2011 Spring Auctions for 115 million yuan (US$16.55 million).

Qi Baishi Qi Baishi (1 January 1864 – 16 September 1957) was a Chinese painter, noted for the whimsical, often playful style of his works. Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi taught himself to paint, sparked by the Manual of the Musta ...

’s Pine and Cypress sold at the 2011 Spring Auctions for transaction price for 425.5 million yuan (US$61.23 million). In October 2012, Album of Mountains and Rivers by

sold for almost US$6 million in China Guardian's Hong Kong auction.

Jin Shangyi Jin is a toneless pinyin romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean. It may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), ...

’s Tajik Bride sold at the 2013 Autumn Auctions for 85.1 million yuan (US$12.25 million). China Guardian's 2015 Spring Auction sold US$301.2 million worth of art. In the same year,

Pan Tianshou Pan Tianshou (; 1897–1971) was a Chinese painter and art educator. Pan was born in Guanzhuang, Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, and graduated from Zhejiang First Normal School (now Hangzhou High School). He studied Chinese traditional paintin ...

's 'Eagle, Rock and Flora' sold for US$43 million, while 'Thousands of Mountains in Autumn' by Li Keran sold for US$28.4 million. In May 2016, an 11th-century 124-character letter signed and written by Chinese scholar

Zeng Gong Zeng (, ) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; In Wade-Giles, such as those in Taiwan, Tseng or Tzeng; in Malaysia and Singapore, Chen or Cheng; in the Philippines, Chan; in Indonesia, Tjan; in Vietnam, Tăng. The surname Zeng is ...

was sold for 207 million yuan (£22 million or US$32 million) at China Guardian's Beijing auction. This letter set a new record price for a work of Chinese calligraphy, with its price having doubled since the letter's second sale in 2009 where it sold for 108 million yuan. The letter was first sold at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in New York for 4.51 million yuan (or US$508,500) in or about 1996. Chinese painter

Zhang Daqian Chang Dai-chien or Zhang Daqian (; 10 May 1899 – 2 April 1983) was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a '' guohua'' (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowned ...

's water colour and ink painting A Landscape of Mountains was sold for US$15.2 million in November 2016.

References

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External links

China Guardian
company website Chinese auction houses Chinese companies established in 1993 Retail companies established in 1993