The qing dynasty album
An album of 20 beautiful eighteenth century Chinese prints, found by a University of Manchester historian, has been hailed as the UK's finest example of Qing dynasty art. However, the collection of poster-sized prints, discovered at the University's John Rylands Library, contains a mysterious unfinished colour painting. The 250-year-old views of summer palaces were found by Dr Yangwen Zheng while researching material for a book to be published next year. No other complete set of these prints known as 'Twenty views of the European palaces in the Garden of Perfect Brightness' are thought to exist in the UK. Estimating their value is difficult, says Dr Zheng, though a figure of up to half a million pounds is possible, she adds. "The figure is a far cry from the cost of these lovely works when they were sold for £5 in the 1870s - probably to Lord Crawford, "said Dr Zheng. "Enriqueta Rylands purchased them for the Library in 1901 - ever since they have been part of the renowned Crawford Collection of over 6000 manuscripts and books from around the world.
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