.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
For a discussion on Valentine Everit Macy, see the footnote to lot 1764.
Rock crystal, a pure and transparent variety of quartz, is called shuijing (‘water essence’) or shuiyu (‘water jade’) in early Chinese writings because of its resemblance to ice, and its preciousness comparable to jade. It is a very difficult medium with which to work, as the original material needs to be sawed and chipped down, and then fine details were executed with a bow drill.
The present two seals are very similar in style and size to a rock crystal seal carved with a mythical beast finial and dated to the 19th-early 20th century, with a six-character inscription Youzhenyixuan zhi bao (Treasured by The True Meaning Studio) on the seal face, formerly in the collection of William Crozier (1855-1942), illustrated in “The Crozier Collection Part 1:Rock Crystals,” The Philadelphia Museum Bulletin, vol. 40, no. 203, (Nov., 1944), pl. IX, and now in the collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art, accession no. 1944-20-12.
The inscription on the larger seal, qin shu dao qu sheng, is recorded in Guochao hongshi xubian (Reigning dynasty palace history sequel), vol. 62, as part of a poetic couplet composed by Qianlong in renzi year (1792).
The inscription on the smaller seal, yun chi jue zhong, originated from Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean), one of the four classic works based on Confucian philosophy.
Rock crystal, a pure and transparent variety of quartz, is called shuijing (‘water essence’) or shuiyu (‘water jade’) in early Chinese writings because of its resemblance to ice, and its preciousness comparable to jade. It is a very difficult medium with which to work, as the original material needs to be sawed and chipped down, and then fine details were executed with a bow drill.
The present two seals are very similar in style and size to a rock crystal seal carved with a mythical beast finial and dated to the 19th-early 20th century, with a six-character inscription Youzhenyixuan zhi bao (Treasured by The True Meaning Studio) on the seal face, formerly in the collection of William Crozier (1855-1942), illustrated in “The Crozier Collection Part 1:Rock Crystals,” The Philadelphia Museum Bulletin, vol. 40, no. 203, (Nov., 1944), pl. IX, and now in the collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art, accession no. 1944-20-12.
The inscription on the larger seal, qin shu dao qu sheng, is recorded in Guochao hongshi xubian (Reigning dynasty palace history sequel), vol. 62, as part of a poetic couplet composed by Qianlong in renzi year (1792).
The inscription on the smaller seal, yun chi jue zhong, originated from Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean), one of the four classic works based on Confucian philosophy.