Ming period brick from the Great Wall of China sells at Somerset auction

Included in the sale at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on October 11 was a brick from the Great Wall of China. It probably dated from the Ming period when Great Wall sections were widely built with fired clay bricks, adhered with lime mortar and sticky rice.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Roland Arkell

A Ming period brick from the Great Wall of China – £1700 at Lawrences of Crewkerne.

This block came with direct provenance dating back to 1929 when (as inscribed to a white metal plaque) it had been presented to the Rotary Club of Bristol by a visiting delegation of the Rotary Club of Shanghai.

Kept in store ever since, it was sold for £1700 together with a photo of the presentation ceremony and the packing case in which it was shipped from China.

The Shanghai club, aimed at encouraging friendly relations between the various nationalities represented in the city, was the first of its type established in China in 1919.