An official state banquet menu bearing the signature of former Chinese dictator Mao Zedong was recently auctioned for $275,000 by Boston-based RR Auction.
From a banquet in Beijing on October 19, 1956, the menu commemorated the inaugural state visit to China by Pakistan's Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
It was autographed in a fountain pen by six Chinese statesmen, including Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai.
Pakistan was one of the first nations to acknowledge the rule of the Chinese Communist Party soon after its ascent to power in 1949.
Over time, China became a pivotal player in Pakistan's nuclear armament program, providing the government with sufficient weapons-grade uranium for the development of two atomic bombs.
The menu featured foods such as "Consommé of Swallow Nest and White Agaric," "Shark's Fin in Brown Sauce," and "Roast Peking Duck."
Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, says this piece of history represents "diplomatic engagement" and "friendships" between China and Pakistan.
To hold a menu signed by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai is to hold a piece of the past - a piece that tells a story of diplomatic engagement, cultural exchange, and the forging of friendships that have endured through the decades.
I beg to differ that anything Mao touched represented the oppression that led to the deaths of approximately 45 million people.
But that's just me...
Additional items sold at the auction comprised a fully operational Enigma coding machine from World War II, which sold for $206,253, a document signed by Thomas Edison for a light bulb patent that went for $22,154, and a check written by Steve Jobs to Radio Shack, selling for $46,063.
Dated July 23, 1976, the check is made out to RadioShack for a whopping $4.01 - that was the same year Jobs, along with Steve Wozniak, founded Apple in a Silicon Valley garage.
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