The Art Institute of Chicago is set to sell over 300 Chinese artifacts through a Christie’s online auction in mid-September. A touring exhibition showcasing some of the representative artworks started in Asia this week.

According to Christie’s, the selection of the artworks on sale represents a broad range of categories, with a strong collection of Ming and Qing porcelains. The auction house said that all the porcelains were donated by patrons in North America in the early 20th century.

Among the collection, a large wucai garlic-mouth vase from the Ming dynasty is estimated to fetch between 200,000 and 300,000 U.S. dollars at auction. 

Other artworks under the spotlight include a yellow-enameled stem bowl (1736-1795) carrying a top-end estimate of 80,000 U.S. dollars, and a peach bloom domed water pot from 1662-1722 estimated to bring up to 120,000 U.S. dollars.

Some have speculated that the art institute is deaccessioning the collection due to lack of money. Wang Tao, director of the Asian Art department at the Art Institute of Chicago, refuted those claims in an email interview with The Paper.

“According to industry guidelines, the proceeds from deaccessioned art can only be used to buy new art pieces. The museum needs to improve and upgrade its collections from time to time. To replace some collections with other art pieces we don’t have is a good way for the museum to do better,” Wang said.

The Asian Art department has some 35,000 objects, with a large amount of Chinese bronze wares and jade objects.

The Chrisite’s auction, titled "Chinese Works of Art from the Art Institute of Chicago," will run from September 10 to 17 in New York.

(Cover image by Gao Hongmei)