Lot Essay
Many seals with the inscription of ‘Shiquan laoren zhibao’ (Treasure of the old man of ten military campaigns) or ‘Shiquan laoren’ (Old man of ten military campaigns) are known to exist since the Qianlong period. It is record thirteen times in the ‘Baosu’ (Treasured seals) anthology compiled since Emperor Qianlong’s reign. The one in the collection of the Taipei Palace Museum is also carved out of spinach green jade with a text on Qianlong’s ten successful military campaigns inscribed on its four sides, and is slightly bigger than the present one. See Imperial Seals of the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, Classics of the Forbidden City, Beijing, 2008, pl. 199. Compare to another sold at Christie’s, London, 12 May 2009, lot 15.