Chapter I The market for ancient calligraphers’ works
For our readers’ reference, we list below price positions of several ancient calligraphers that appeared at some auctions.
1. Mi Fu (米芾) of Song: His 《Calligraphy》scroll was sold at RMB 41.8 million in September of 2002 at China Guardian Auctions. Co. Ltd.
2. Wang Chong (王宠) of Ming: His 《Free Hand & Cursive Style》 scroll was sold at RMB 1.7 million in January, 2004 at Beijing Hanhai Auctions. 51 works of him were at auctions and 33 of them were sold and the total sales were RMＢ 5.7772 million.
3. Dong Qichang (董其昌 in Chinese that reads dǒng Qíchāng 1555-1636), the most influential artist of late Ming: 602 calligraphy works were on auction, 321 of them were sold at a total price of RMb 49.89 million during the decade from 1994-2004.
4. Zhang Ruitu (张瑞图in Chinese that reads zhāng Ruìtú 1570-1641) of Ming: during the decade from 1994-2004, 65 pieces of 113 that were in auctions were transacted at a total value of RMB 11.569 million.
5.
Wang Duo (王铎in Chinese that reads Wáng Duó 1592-1652) of Ming: In 2002 alone, 23 pieces of his
 Wang Duo’s calligraphy
|
calligraphy were sold, the highest price was
the one sold at Hong Kong Sotheby’s—RMB
351,000 for a poem in cursive style that was
7.59 x 1.52 Chinese “chi” (1 chi=1.0936foot); in
the decade from 1994-2004, 100 out of 158 pieces
were on the auction for a total price of RMB 20.66
million.
6. Zha Shibiao (查士标 in Chinese that reads Zhā
Shìbiāo0 1615-1698) of Qing: 71 of 109 that
were on auction were sold for a total of RMB
1.38 million.
7. Zheng Xiaoxu (郑孝胥 in Chinese that reads
Zhēng Xiàoxù 1860-1938) of Qing: 48 works
of his were sold in 2004 and 2005. Zheng has
been most influential in Japan.
8. Zheng Banqiao (郑板桥 in Chinese that reads
Zhēng Bǎnqiáo 1693-1766) of Qing: there are
often fakes in the market. Rongbao aution
sold one of his 《Free Hand》 for RMB231,
000 in 2004.
