NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution has met the e-commerce revolution in a Communist Party online auction.
New York auction house Sotheby's is peddling a set of Chairman Mao ping pong paddles to the masses as part of the 151 lots of Mao collectibles that were once decorative and propaganda arts endorsed by the founder of Communist China.
Interested parties had better act quick because the auction will end on Wednesday.
Sotheby's is conducting the auction on its Internet site, www.sothebys.com, and among the items emblazoned with Mao's image that will go to the highest bidder is the ping pong paddle set sporting the faces of Mao and former U.S. President Richard Nixon, issued to commemorate the start of ping pong diplomacy and Nixon's visit to China in 1972.
A ``Dreaming of the Revolution'' ceramic pillow set has landed a bid for $250. A ``Yankees Go Home'' anti-American poster has fetched a bid of $575, while a farmer Mao ceramic statue is at $300.
There are banners, posters, tin alarm clocks, tea sets, and of course, several editions of Mao's ``Little Red Book.''
The Mao collectible auction is the second for Sotheby's and the auction house has said many of its customers for the goods are U.S.-based academics.
``My feeling is that it is an intellectual and academic group who finds this sort of political propaganda and memorabilia very interesting and politically and intellectually powered,'' said Marsha Malinowski, a senior vice president at Sotheby's in charge of the sale.
Sotheby's said it does not have any plans to auction the commemorative goods of other communist icons.
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