Dozens of antique collectors will display their private collections at an exhibition in Shenzhen Museum from June 8 to 30, the first such exhibition in the city.

More than 400 antique paintings, chinaware items, bronze ware items, and other artifacts owned by Shenzhen collectors will be on display during the government-sponsored Collection Month, according to officials of the municipal antiques management office, which will hold the exhibition to mark Cultural Heritage Day on June 9.

Antique experts, who have spent six months on selecting the exhibits from thousands of submissions, believe the items represent the best in the city.

"Some of the antiques deserve to be in a State-level museum. I have never seen things similar to them in either China or abroad," said Liu Tao, vice director general of the antiques management office and an expert on chinaware.

One of the exhibits, a yellow and green porcelain statue dating back to the Jin Kingdom (1115-1234), is especially rare. "Very few Jin Kingdom porcelain statues in yellow and green are left to today, and even few are kept so well," said Liu.

Among other precious items are a green-glazed pot from the well-known Yaozhou Kiln of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a Tang Dynasty (618-907) pot with curlicue glaze, and a painting by Chinese artist Fu Baoshi (1904-1964).

Many of the exhibits are Chinese antiques that were recovered from foreign countries, according to Liu.

The exhibition is open free to the public. Huang Zhonghe, director of the antiques management office, said the government hopes to use the exhibition to encourage the collection of antiques.

During the Collection Month, a number of senior artists and collectors will give lectures and appraise antiques.

Zhao Yu, former vice president of the Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Painting, will give a speech on art collection and investment June 8 at Shenzhen Museum. On June 9, Xiao Ping, an artist from the Chinese Painting Institute of Jiangsu, will give a lecture on painting identification. Zhang Pusheng, well-known chinaware expert, and Yang Zhenhua, well-known jade expert, will teach people how to valuate ancient chinaware and jade on the same day.

Editor: Wing