A Sotheby's employee presents the Chinese scroll, "Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback" from the period of Chinese Yuan Dynasty, by Ren Renfa during a media preview for the Sotheby's in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. The 700-year-old painted scroll has been sold for $41.8 million at an auction in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
By Zen Soo, AP News
HONG KONG (AP) — A 700-year-old Chinese painted scroll from the Yuan Dynasty fetched 306.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($41.8 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong.
The 6.6-feet scroll, titled “Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback” is by Ren Renfa, a renowned Chinese artist and government official.
The painting depicts the princes riding horses, together with four attendants. One of the princes is Li Longji, who later became the longest-reigning Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.
The scroll has been documented in imperial collections and bears a collection of seals, including those of several emperors. In 1922, the “Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback” scroll was transported out of the Forbidden City by Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, after the fall of Qing dynasty. Read more >>