Lot Essay
Jade as a material was highly regarded throughout Chinese history. Even as early as the Warring States period, jade seals were reserved for the emperor while gold and silver were designated for princes, and all other seals were made of bronze. Despite the popularity in the use of seals among the literati from the Song period onwards, seals maintained their official function at court.
An identical seal bearing the same inscriptions is in the Alan and Simone Hartman collection, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 150; where it is suggested that the seal was possibly designated for the posthumous use of the Empress, Xiao Shen Xian, the mother of the Emperor Qianlong.
Further research at the Palace Museum, Beijing, identifies the inscription as for the posthumous title given to Daoguang's consort, Niuhu Lushi, who was from the branch of the Subordinate Yellow Banner. Niuhu Lushi married Prince Minning (who later became emperor Daoguang) in 1796 A.D. the mother of emperor Xianfeng, she died in 1808. The honour of the title Empress Xiao Mucheng was granted to Daoguang's late wife when he came to the throne.
A related seal carved in the Guangxu period which records the honour bestowed on Cixi, who was later known as the Dowager Emperess, is illustrated in Empress Dowager Cixi: Her Art of Living, p. 23.
The carving of the present lot compares closely to the seal in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Life in the Forbidden City, p. 54, fig. 65 and p. 24, fig. 13. The fuction of the Beijing example is probably not related to the present lot since it bears the marks Chiming Zibao, Treasure of Imperial Decree; it is one of emperor Qianlong's twenty-five treasured seals and was used to officate imperial edicts, op. cit., p. 54. Another Qianlong seal with four lines of text in Chinese and another four in Manchu is in the Shenyang Palace Museum, Liaoning Province, cf. Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China, p. 75, no. 22.
(US$50,000-70,000)
An identical seal bearing the same inscriptions is in the Alan and Simone Hartman collection, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 150; where it is suggested that the seal was possibly designated for the posthumous use of the Empress, Xiao Shen Xian, the mother of the Emperor Qianlong.
Further research at the Palace Museum, Beijing, identifies the inscription as for the posthumous title given to Daoguang's consort, Niuhu Lushi, who was from the branch of the Subordinate Yellow Banner. Niuhu Lushi married Prince Minning (who later became emperor Daoguang) in 1796 A.D. the mother of emperor Xianfeng, she died in 1808. The honour of the title Empress Xiao Mucheng was granted to Daoguang's late wife when he came to the throne.
A related seal carved in the Guangxu period which records the honour bestowed on Cixi, who was later known as the Dowager Emperess, is illustrated in Empress Dowager Cixi: Her Art of Living, p. 23.
The carving of the present lot compares closely to the seal in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Life in the Forbidden City, p. 54, fig. 65 and p. 24, fig. 13. The fuction of the Beijing example is probably not related to the present lot since it bears the marks Chiming Zibao, Treasure of Imperial Decree; it is one of emperor Qianlong's twenty-five treasured seals and was used to officate imperial edicts, op. cit., p. 54. Another Qianlong seal with four lines of text in Chinese and another four in Manchu is in the Shenyang Palace Museum, Liaoning Province, cf. Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China, p. 75, no. 22.
(US$50,000-70,000)