Beijing's oldest photo "Randeng Pagoda" fails at auction

Auctions failed for more than half of seven photos of old Beijing. These photos had received much attention at Beijing Hanhai Auction Company’s summer auction of “rare ancient books” on June 21. The photo of the Randeng Pagoda in Tongzhou, taken by Felice Beato, a war photographer with the British army in 1860, was among those that failed to be auctioned off. It is currently the oldest known photo of Beijing. After the auction concluded, an official from the cultural committee in Tongzhou, said they are communicating with Hanhai, hoping to facilitate this valuable photo’s “return home” via other methods.

Beijing's oldest photo "Randeng Pagoda" fails at auction

Winning bids for historical photos are not high

On the morning of June 21, seven historical photos were put in for an auction of rare ancient books. Their fates were sealed in just five minutes and the bidding did not go past four rounds. Out of them, "Di'anmen Gate" and the “Former appearance of Beijing’s outer city gate (Yongdingmen Gate)” were both purchased by buyer No. 122. The buyer was not present at the site and bought the photos for the starting price of 10,000 yuan each. The “Former appearance of the imperial garden” was auctioned off for 8,800 yuan to a lady who was present at the auction. It was the only photo whose transaction was concluded on the site.

“The contents of the successfully auctioned photos are ancient architectures or relics that now have disappeared. Those that failed to sell at auction include the photos of the ruins of the Seventeen-arch Bridge of the Summer Palace and the Randeng Pagoda in Tongzhou, places which can still be seen nowadays,” said Liu Yang, director of Beijing folk history and geography association. He explained that most of the photos failed to sell at auction as most of the buyers have an expertise in rare ancient books and are not very interested in old photos.

A photo of wooden structures at the Old Summer Palace was displayed

Of the three photos that were auctioned off, the “Former appearance of the imperial garden” attracted special attention. “This is the second historical photo in the world to make record of the wooden structures of the Old Summer Palace.” Liu said that the other photo “Guiyue Bridge” is currently being stored in Japan.