Bidamount News December 19, 2025, Vol 613

Sotheby's Exhibit and Sale In Hong Kong

Giuseppe Castiglione’s Gathering of Two Auspicious Signs is a painting intimately connected to the fate of China. It is also the very work that marked the entry of a Western painter onto the stage of the Chinese imperial court, a figure forever etched into the canon of art history. From its very moment of creation as an allegorical painting in the imperial court to win the favour of the Yongzheng Emperor, Gathering of Two Auspicious Signs was destined to be symbolic of the Mandate of Heaven. Its silk threads bear signs of the vicissitudes of time, witness to the nation’s fateful turns of fortune and a bygone era of the last three hundred years. There is perhaps no other painting that beholds such a powerful line of succession, passed through the hands of many of the most influential figures in Chinese history from the Great Qing to this day.

Exhibition Details

27 November 2025 - 27 January 2026
Monday–Saturday | 11:00AM–7:00PM
Sunday & Public Holiday | 11:00AM–6:00PM

Sotheby's Maison, Hong KongG/F, Landmark Chater, 8 Connaught Road Central, Central

In the first year of the Yongzheng reign (1723), on the sixth day of the eighth month, a spectacular sight of lotus seed pods sharing a single stem with divided calyxes was observed. Marvelling at the sighting of the Bingdi lotus, an auspicious sign symbolising “two hearts united as one,” the Yongzheng Emperor and his court officials make haste to capitalise on this rare phenomenon.

Just days earlier, the Yongzheng Emperor had received news of a bountiful wheat harvest in Shandong Province of several hundred stalks of auspicious grain – each vividly purple stalk bore double ears, with strong, upright yellow stems over a foot long.

The Yongzheng Emperor’s accession to the throne had been marked by political instability. Personal tragedy and natural disaster within the first months of his reign only further made the legitimation of his rule ever more pressing. All this, compounded by allegations that the Yongzheng Emperor had usurped the throne by forging the succession edict, left the new emperor facing heavy opposition.

"If Heaven gives it to the worthy, it will be given to the worthy. If Heaven gives it to the son, it will be given to the son."

Mencius, 5A.6

It was on these grounds that two extraordinarily rare auspicious signs appearing simultaneously in the first year of the Yongzheng reign became an omen of great importance. The auspicious signs were interpreted as Heaven’s will to herald the new emperor’s accession and a signifier the Yongzheng Emperor had received the Mandate of Heaven, thereby blessed by Heaven as the legitimate ruler of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty.

This legendary account of the Yongzheng Emperor receiving the Mandate of Heaven is immortalised on silk in Giuseppe Castiglione’s Gathering of Two Auspicious Signs.

Treasured in the imperial collection, once cherished by the Qianlong Emperor, the painting was gifted to the powerful warlord Zhang Xueliang, otherwise known as the Young Marshal, by Puyi, the last emperor of China, before entering the influential Soong family where it remained until recent years.

Related Essay

A Detailed Study of Giuseppe Castiglione's Gathering of Two Auspicious Signs as Documented in the Shiqu Baoji

Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766)

Giuseppe Castiglione (1688–1766) was an Italian Jesuit missionary regarded as one of the most significant court painters in history. Castiglione arrived in Macau, China, in August 1715, taking the Chinese name Lang Shining (郎世寧) and spent five decades serving the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors with unwavering commitment.

Castiglione became renowned for seamlessly blending Western realism with Chinese aesthetic principles. His portraits of the emperors, empresses, and imperial horses combined meticulous European modelling with the elegance and restraint of classical Chinese brushwork. Beyond painting, he contributed to design projects at the Yuanmingyuan, including architectural and garden schemes that reflected a synthesis of cultures.

Highly respected at court, Castiglione adapted his style to suit imperial tastes while quietly fulfilling his Jesuit vocation. Many of the most significant historical events of the mid-Qing period were recorded for posterity through his brush. He passed away in Beijing in 1766 after more than fifty years of service, leaving a body of work that continues to shape understandings of artistic encounter between China and the West.

Hand Made and Handheld..Exhibit and Catalog

The catalog of the pieces for the above exhibit can be seen in this catalog. Made available through Arts Of Asia magazine. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Note: I have already bought this catalog, it is a very good reference on the topic, an essential I think if you are a collector. Best Peter

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