A set of eight blue and white spoons, Qing dynasty, Guangxus six character mark and period (1874-1908).

From the Collection of Klas E Böök (1909-1980), thence by descent. A Swedish diplomat and civil servant. Mr Böök first had a career within banking, that led up to the position of Governor of the Swedish National Bank from 1948 to 1951. His diplomatic career began when he was appointed head of the Commercial Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and envoy from 1947 to 1948. He was minister in Ottawa from 1951 to 1956, ambassador in Beijing from 1956 to 1961, also accredited as envoy to Bangkok from 1956 to 1959. Böök was ambassador in New Delhi, also accredited to Colombo and Kathmandu from 1961 to 1965 and in Bern from 1965 to 1972. He had special assignments for the Foreign Ministry from 1972 to 1975.

The black and white images is of the table in Mr Bööks residence in New Dehli, when ambassador there.
Image of the chair in the same home in India.
Image of Mr Böök and Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), Chinese statesman who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 until 1976.