On May 25, Bonhams will auction the Q Collection, arguably the greatest collection of soapstone figures ever to be offered at auction. The 78 figures represent the personal journey of the collector, who showed remarkable vision in collecting these figures, starting in the late 1970s. They were purchased from top art dealers in USA, Europe and Japan, and also from street markets. One of the rarest examples was purchased for a token sum in Cat Street in the late 1970s. Soapstone, or shoushan stone, is produced in South East China near to Fuzhou city. Prized throughout Chinese history, attractive to the eye and highly tangible, it was somewhat overlooked by collectors of Chinese art in the 20th century, who focused on porcelain and jade. Now however, there will be great interest from new Chinese collectors looking for pieces of quality and provenance. The collection includes this extremely fine and rare large soapstone figure of a sage, 17th/18th century (Estimate: HK$2,000,000-4,000,000)On May 25, Bonhams will auction the Q Collection, arguably the greatest collection of soapstone figures ever to be offered at auction. The 78 figures represent the personal journey of the collector, who showed remarkable vision in collecting these figures, starting in the late 1970s. They were purchased from top art dealers in USA, Europe and Japan, and also from street markets. One of the rarest examples was purchased for a token sum in Cat Street in the late 1970s. Soapstone, or shoushan stone, is produced in South East China near to Fuzhou city. Prized throughout Chinese history, attractive to the eye and highly tangible, it was somewhat overlooked by collectors of Chinese art in the 20th century, who focused on porcelain and jade. Now however, there will be great interest from new Chinese collectors looking for pieces of quality and provenance. The collection includes this extremely fine and rare large soapstone figure of a sage, 17th/18th century (Estimate: HK$2,000,000-4,000,000)