Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-18
MRS.CONCER' CUR|OS
Sale of Extensive Loot From
the Siege of Peking.
FROM THE FORBIDDEN CITY
Temples and Monasteries Plundered
by Soldiers and Natives.
TELEGRAPH LINES IN CHINA
Control Of Thibet-Flight of the
Grand Lama-Allowed to Retain
His Ecclesiastical Supremacy.
LINES IN CHINA
BY WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.


celains. embroideries brocades. jades
| ivory carvings. cloisonne work and arti-
cles of brass and bronze gathered by
Mrs. T.. II. Conger Of Iowa. widow of our
late minister to China. is to be sold at
auction at the rooms OF the American
Art Association in New York. comr1enc
ing Wednesday. the 10th. The catalogue
is quite an elaborate publication. and
contains list of 9s7 objects. OF these.
go are articles of porcelain-urns. jars.
vases. cups, bowls. dishes OF various
| sorts: decorated plates. representing the
various schools and periods of ceramics
in the Chinese empire. Among them are
said to be some rare and valuable pieces,
which probably have been already iden-
i titled by experts. for the collection has
| been on view for week or more.
| The manner in which these porcelains
| were obtained is suggested by a quotation
at the beginning OF the catalogue from
a book entitled 'Ipdiscreet Letters From
| Picking. Being the Story of the Siege Of
written by a man named Lennox Simpson.
employed in the customs service of China.
He says: Just near the ropes
| stretched round one cart became loosened
by the rocking and humping occasioned
by the vile road. and the contents. no
longer held in place. began splitting to
the ground. AS soon as he had seen
this. the Russian soldier-driver became
furious. He would have had to do a lot
of work to repack his load properly, so he
soon thought Of shorter and easier
way. He began deliberately throwing
| overheard his overload. Three beautiful
porcelain vases OF enormous size and
priceless value suffered this fate: Their
some bulky pieces Of jade carved in the
forms of curious animals. c. tried to
stop the man. but 1 only smiled Rrimly.
What did it matter? In Prince Tuans
palace 1 had seen a couple of days be-
pieces Of porcelain and baskets full OF
wonderful objects de vertu sma shed into
ten thousand atoms by the soldiery who
| had forced their way there:
Lost From Siege of Picking.
Hic fabula docet that the articles
described in the catalogue are loot picked
up among the coolies when the siege OF
Picking was raised. Everybody will re-
member that the palaces in the Forbidden
City and those of mandarins in the Tar
tar city and the temples and monas-
teries were plundered by soldiers and by
natives, and hundreds Of precious works
| of-art and objects of great value were
carried off in baskets and in bags and
! offered for sale for any price they would
bring for weeks afterward. No doubt much
OF Mrs. Conger's treasures were obtained
| in that way. It was also true that
wagon loads of the most delicate china
the rarest ivory carvings, rolls of bro
cade and embroideries, were sold at auc-
ton at the different legations for the
benefit of the mess chests of the soldiers
who had assisted in the plundering of the
palaces.
| in the catalogue item 4s6 reads: "Valua-
BILE books from the archives Of the famous
Hanlin Yuen. or Imperial University, Pc
| king. one Of the oldest, wealth!est and
most valuable institutions in China. Here
were collected the most valuable treasures
Of China's history for 1900 years back
1t was fired and destroyed by the Boxers
June %. 1900. during the siege Of the le-
cations at Picking. The building destroy ed
was erected some l. 200 years ago"
| That is ell true. The library of the
Hanlin University. which stood next to
| the British legation. was set on fire and
plundered by Chinese coolies, and such
manuscripts as were saved were after
ward sold singly and in lots by the loot
ers to any one who would buy them.
Many of the most valuable tones have
! found their way into the British Museum
in London and other great libraries OF
Europe.
On the same page in the catalogue are
three items representing packages OF tea
IN silver canisters taken from the i'm
perial palace" during the time it was
looted by the soldiers The tea used by
the imperial family is made from the
tenderest buds of the youngest trees in
are grown. and it often sell for $40 and
$50 pound.
That MS. Conger succeeded in getting
| a large amount Of other loot from the
hundred embroidered hangines. lambre-
auins. screens. coverlets. tablecovers,
bsdspreads. panels, banners and other
specimens Of Chinese needlework She
one of which. the catalogue says was
| made as birthday gift for a Chinese
| princess. Another article is described as
"a gorgeous palace hanging made for an
| imperial birthday gift "
Some Of the Curious Exhibits.
Curio hunters will take great interest in
No. IS In the catalogue. which is adver-
| tised as valuable Chinese imperial bell,
| taken from the temple Of agriculture dur
| ing the Boxer rebellion 1900 Cast brass.
in which, 1t is stated. there Is considerable
gold alloy. The above described bell was
made during the reign of Kang-hsi 1882
l722). It was rung once year. while the
emperor in the springtime was ploughfng
q niece of land to encourage agriculture"
The next item Is an elephant harness
''of repousse and openwork gilded brass
from the imperial elephant stables and
used by the Emperor Chien-lung."
There are eighty-four other objects of
brass and twenty-five Of bronze, including
very old and rare temple gongs; there is
a list OF twenty idols OF various gods and
goddesses Of different sizes and ornamen-
tation: there a re thirty pieces Of cloisonne,
including "a unique imperial palace seat
nineteen inches high and fifteen inches in
diameter, on antique cloisonne enamel,
| made in the reign of Chieng-t'ai O45O-
1850; there are twenty examples Of Chi
| nese enameling: fifty swords and other
weapons: fifty snukboxes and bottles:
twenty-five pieces of carved ivory. and
nearly a hundred pieces Of jade. which.
| as you know. is ranked by the Chinese as
the most precious Of stones; there are
several articles of carved rock crystal
and agate; thirty lacquered boxes and
trays: an antique god watch, incrusted
with diamonds and pearls: fans. slippers,
mirrors and scrolls; there are fourteen
rolls of gold brocade that are said to have
been made for the imperial household.
and in connection with them. the cata-
logue quotes again from the 'indiscreet
letters from Picking" describing how he
obtained hundreds Of rolls OF priceless
| Europe
There are enough mandarns robes and
| women's garments in the list to start
| curio store and from the description one
| might assume tina: they are Of great
value.
Savings of Years Represented.
| Mrs Conger is said to have disposed OF
! some Of her most valuable articles at J1ri-
| vate sale. Her friends here say that she
! built her cottage at Pasadena with the
proceeds and these are the residue. Mr.
Conger was able to bring them into this
| country without the payment . duty
| 1T. 2~..- s1,~ 1T