QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

According to the Qing Imperial Archives, the Qianlong Emperor had written two draft examples of calligraphy using the same three-character inscription in 1752 and 1754, thus it is very likely the present seal was made around this time and used as a personal seal by the Emperor. According to the Shiqu Baoji (Catalogue of the Qing Imperial Collection), a calligraphy by Qianlong titled Yu lin Mi Fu ti Lin Bu meihua shi tie bears the yi qing fen seal impression. The seal impression is also included in Qing dai di hou xi yin ji cheng (The Qing Dynasty Emperor's and Empress’ Seals)- vol. 2, Qianlong period, Beijing, 2005, p. 88 (fig. 1).