Enjoy these unique gifts from the Palace Museum in Beijing, China!

This key chain with fabric scented attachment comes from the Palace Museum, Beijing, China. It holds a delicately embroidered pouch (2 x 2 inches), with a scented cushion inside, suspended by a golden hoop and charm. Value: $50

This scroll, from China, is made of very fine textile panel (possibly silk) over a fabric backing, with an embroidered tree with red blossoms. It measures 16 x 11.5 inches. The background and embroidered decoration are of delicate and refined craftmanship, such as can be found in Chinese art. Value: $150

Generously donated by the Auffret Family.

From the Palace Museum website:

"Located in the center of Beijing, the Palace Museum, historically and artistically one of the most comprehensive museum in China, was established on the basis of the Forbidden City, a palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1840), and their collection of treasures.

The Forbidden City used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is nearly 600 years old, with construction started in 1406 and completed in 1420. The principles of Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese system of geomancy, governed the whole process. The rectangular palace covers an area of some 720,000 sq. km -- 961 m in length and 760 m in width. It has a total of 9999.5 room spaces (an area enclosed by four poles). In 1924, the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1840) was removed from the Forbidden City, and in 1925 the Palace Museum was established here.

Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1420 to 1911 held court and lived within the walls of the Forbidden City. After the republican revolution, this palace as a whole would have been sequestered by the Nationalist government were it not for the "Articles of Favorable Treatment of the Qing House" which allowed Puyi to live on in the Inner Court after his abdication. In 1924, during a coup launched by the warlord Feng Yuxiang, Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City and the management of the palace fell to the charge of a committee set up to deal with the concerns of the deposed imperial family.

According to a 28-volume inventory published in 1925, the treasure trove left by the Qing numbered more than 1.17 million items. Shortly before the outbreak of World War IIï¼ÂÂŒ the museum authorities decided to evacuate its collection rather than let it fall into enemy's hands or risk destruction in battle. For four frantic months between February and May 1933, the most important pieces in the collection were packed into 13,427 crates and 64 bundles and sent to Shanghai in five batches. From there they were dispatched to Nanjing where a depository was built and a branch of the Palace Museum established."