'Shark's fin' menu signed by Chairman Mao sells for quarter of a million pounds

17 December 2023 , 10:00

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The historic menu was auctioned off for the staggering sum of $275,000 (Image: AP)

An official menu signed by former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong has been auctioned off for over a quarter of a million dollars.

According to Boston-based auction house RR Auction, which specialises in historical artefacts, the menu was for a banquet held in Beijing on 19 October 1956 and marked the first state visit to China by Pakistan's Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. The menu bears the fountain pen signatures of six influential Chinese statesmen including Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai and fetched for $275,000 (£215,000) at auction. The banquet featured foods from both nations with delicacies such as “Consommé of Swallow Nest and White Agaric,” “Shark’s Fin in Brown Sauce,” and “Roast Peking Duck.”

Foods served at the banquet included delicacies such as “Consommé of Swallow Nest and White Agaric,” “Shark’s Fin in Brown Sauce,” and “Roast Peking Duck.” (AP)

Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said in a statement:"To hold a menu signed by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai is to hold a piece of the past – a piece that tells the story of diplomatic engagement, cultural exchange, and the forging of friendships that have endured through the decades,"

Other items auctioned off included a fully operation World War 11-era Enigma coding device for $206,253 (£161,299), a Thomas Edison-signed light bulb patent for $22,154 (£17,325), and a check signed by the now-deceased former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, for $46,063 (£36,023).

A check signed by Steve Jobs to Radio Shack in 1976 was also auctioned off for $46,063 (AP)

As early as 1951, Chairman Mao Zedong instructed his foreign ministry to forge diplomatic relations with Pakistan and later ordered special attention be paid to the South Asian nation as "China's southwestern gate". The meeting between their leaders in 1956 was an important moment in the history of Sino-Pakistan relations as Pakistan had initially been hostile to the idea of a Communist state on its borders.

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Just two months later, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai made a 10-day visit to Pakistan, for which he received a warm welcome. A major diplomatic move in March 1965 saw Pakistan denounce the "Two China policy" of the US – Washington's de facto recognition of both the Republic of China in Taipei and the communist People's Republic of China in Beijing.

China provided its full support to Pakistan in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, while the US lost Pakistan favour by halting military supplies after the UN Security Council called for an end to the conflict.

Mizy Judah Clifton