Page 88 - important chinese art mar 22 2018

Fig. 1 Gustav Detring and Constantin von Hanneken photographed with Li Hongzhang, Berlin, 1896
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PROPERTY FROM THE DETRING /

VON HANNEKEN COLLECTION

LOTS 547!551

Sotheby’s is privileged to present for auction a selection of for the Northern Ports. His achievements in China are nothing
ceramics and works of art collected in China during the late short of staggering. He negotiated a series of treaties and trade
Qing period. The collection was formed by two of the most agreements on behalf of the Chinese government; was used
in! uential Germans living and working in Tianjin in the late by Li during various diplomatic missions in the 1870s-80s; and
19th century: Gustav Detring (1842-1913) and his son-in-law was relied upon to deal with German arms manufacturers and
Constantin von Hanneken (1854-1925) ( g. 1). Individually both in hiring military experts. During the Sino-Japanese War, an
men operated at the highest levels of the Qing bureaucracy and Imperial edict ordered Detring ‘to proceed to Japan to e% ect a
played historically signi" cant roles in the politics, diplomacy settlement’. In 1896, Detring was conferred as Dingdaihauling
and military of the tumultuous late Qing period. ‘Rank One’ by the Dowager Empress Cixi, making him the high-
est ranking Westerner in China, as memorialized by a painting
Born in the Northern Rhine-Westphalia, Gustav Detring ( g. 2)
at the Astor Hotel in Tianjin ( g. 4).
moved to China in 1865 to join the Customs Service, work-
ing under Sir Robert Hart, Inspector General of the Imperial Detring’s contributions to Tianjin - the city he made his home—
Maritime Customs Service. By 1872 Detring had risen to were no less commendable: he founded Tianjin University,
become a Customs Commissioner in Tianjin and, six years co-published the Chinese Times, constructed the Tianjin
later was appointed to serve as the private and trusted advisor racecourse, paved the roads of the foreign settlement, and
to Viceroy Li Hongzhang, a position he held for twenty seven was instrumental in the construction of the City Hall, named
years. During his time in China, Detring rose to have one of ‘Gordon Hall’ after Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon. At the time of his
the most senior positions in the Qing bureaucracy, including death in 1913, a Chinese newspaper wrote: “His In! uence upon
in the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry) and as Commissioner the permanent prosperity of [Tianjin] is incalculable. We can

86 SOTHEBY’S