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Defending Zhen Bao Island
1969-1970
Carved black lacquer with oil-painted relief showing three armed Designed by Wei Yongqing
soldiers, one with Mao’s little red book in hand, rendered heroically, Made by Junior Master Jiang Debao
stand on lookout above a valley in the freezing wind guarding their This piece took three months to design and make during 1969-1970,
nation against attack, framed. commemorating the Zhen Bao Island border conflict with the Soviet
114.3cm x 71cm (45in x 28in) Union.
£20,000 - 30,000 The Zhenbao Island conflict was the most serious military incident
HK$250,000 - 370,000 CNY200,000 - 290,000 in the Sino-Soviet Dispute. The conflict centred on the part of the
Wusuli River which forms part of the Sino-Soviet border in north-east
1969-1970年 黑漆油彩「防衛珍寶島」圖板 China. The position and ownership of islands in relation to the main
river had always been a subject of dispute. The 19th century treaty
Provenance: produced at Yangzhou and exhibited in China until maps were small scale and non-definitive, and the river freezes over
the end of the Cultural Revolution, and then placed in storage at the in winter allowing direct access.
No.1 State Lacquer Factory in Yangzhou On the night of 1st/2nd March 1969, about 300 Chinese frontier
Exhibited at the Olympia Fine Arts and Antiques Fair, New Art from guards and regular soldiers, full of revolutionary zeal, crossed the
Ancient China - Lacquer from Yangzhou, November 1998 frozen Wusuli River and encamped upon Zhenbao Island. Early in
A British private collection the morning, the Russians verbally confronted the Chinese only
to come under close contact sub-machine gun fire. After relatively
來源：產於揚州，一直在中國出展直到文化大革命結束，後存在揚州 heavy casualties on both sides, the Russians drove the remaining
第一漆廠的儲存室 Chinese to their own side of the bank. On 15th March 1969, the
1998年11月出展於奧林比亞藝術及古董博覽會的《New Art from Chinese advanced on the island with some 2,000 men and after nine
Ancient China - lacquer from Yangzhou》展覽 hours of battle were forced to withdraw. The Russians suffered 60
英國私人收藏 casualties and the Chinese about 800. To this day the Russians still
hold Zhenbao Island.

The plaque illustrates a worker, a farmer and a soldier; all three are
armed and ready to defend the border.

400 | Bonhams