Leave it to New York’s only Chinese American owned auction house to make its statement quietly by saving the best for last. When Gianguan Auction’s summer sale opens on June 13, it will parade collections of classical Chinese scroll paintings, antique cloisonné, magnificent jade and diamond jewels and Buddhist art in front of buyers before allowing bidders the opportunity to acquire Lot 282, the Northern Song Emperor Huizong’s Heavenly Daoshan Duan ink stone for an anticipated $1.5M. Why such a steep price for a slab of carved stone slightly more than a foot in length? The making of ink stones, the palette on which artists grind and mix inks before applying them to paper or silk, reached its epitome during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1170 A.D.) with the Emperor Song Huizong at its

Read More: $1.5 million rectangular ink stone leads Gianguan Auctions’ summer sale on June 13th