EARLY QING DYNASTY, 17TH-18TH CENTURY

The inscription on the current seal indicates it was used as the personal seal of An Qi (1683-1745?), who was perhaps the most prominent art collector throughout the entire Qing dynasty. An Qi, also known as An Yizhou by his pseudonym, was a native Korean who followed his father to Beijing in his early years, serving as a tributary diplomat. He became a trusted aide of the powerful statesman Mingju at the Kangxi court, and was granted the right to conduct salt business in Tianjin and Yangzhou, through which he amassed enormous amount of wealth, allowing him to form one of the most extensive and formidable art collections in Chinese history. His collection of paintings and calligraphy encompasses some of the most well-known masterpieces such as A Letter to Boyuan by Wang Xun. After An Qi’s decease, his family fortune diminished considerably, with a majority of his art collection acquired by the Qianlong Emperor, many of which are illustrated in Shiqu Baoji (Catalogue of the Qing Imperial Collection).

The current seal impression can be found on a long list of masterpieces of Chinese paintings and calligraphy, including the Pingfu tie by the Western Jin calligrapher Lu Ji, now in the Palace Museum; Chushi song by the Western Jin calligrapher Suo Jing, now in the Palace Museum; The Admonition Scrolls by the Jin painter Gu Kaizhi, now in the British Museum; Lady Guoguo’s Spring Outing by the Tang painter Zhang Xuan, now in the Museum of the Liaoning Province; and Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains by the Yuan painter Huang Gongwang, now in the National Palace Museum.