For the first time over 400 treasures owned by Shenzhen collectors are on display at Shenzhen Museum.

According to Shenzhen Daily¡¯s report, Yang Yaolin, curator of Shenzhen Museum stated that although some collectors are yet to show their best items, the exhibits are of a wide variety and high quality.

Some of the porcelain exhibits date back to the fifth century B.C.

The museum provides large space for the antiques, which occupy three halls, including one for chinaware, one for paintings and calligraphy pieces, and one for bronze ware and miscellaneous items.

The porcelain exhibits are the most valuable, as the city has been strong in the collection of ancient chinaware, according to porcelain valuer Liu Tao.

A set of colorful dishes, vases, cups dating back to the era of Emperor Qianlong (1735-1795) shows Guangdong¡¯s color-adding technology of the 18th century. The colorful chinaware is called ¡°Guangcai,¡± or ¡°Guangdong color,¡± because the colors were added in Guangdong.

In the painting hall, the most valuable piece is the ¡°hand-washing painting¡± by master Fu Baoshi (1904-1964), who painted the piece in the 1940s.

The painting hall has few works of top artists, but it does have the handwritings by some very well-known figures, including Li Hongzhang, one of the most powerful officials in the late Qing Dynasty who advocated learning from the West, and Kang Youwei, a late Qing Dynasty scholar known for his role as the emperor¡¯s adviser during the Hundred Days Reform Movement of 1898.

There is a zone in the painting hall reserved for tangka, a type of Tibetan religious painting on textiles. The more than 10 tangka paintings on exhibition all belong to one Shenzhen collector, who has a greater collection of tangka paintings than anybody else in Guangdong.

In the bronze hall, one is able to see Shang Dynasty (17th century-11th century B.C.) treasures including a ding (four-legged round or square cooking vessel used by aristocrats of the time) with patterns of a phoenix and a cicada, and an exquisite wine cup called jue.

Editor: Wing