A very rare 19th-Century Korean ivory scaphe dial with compass made during the reign of the Chinese Emperor Tongzhi,

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Details

A very rare 19th-Century Korean ivory scaphe dial with compass made during the reign of the Chinese Emperor Tongzhi,
the dial encircled by incised Chinese characters in black referring to the time of year - solstices, autumn begins, cold dew, hoar frost descends, and others - which are read off against the corresponding year, incised in red in the bowl of the dial, with polygonal cross-section brass pin gnomon, beneath the dial an inscription Chinese in red reading 5 seconds 39 minutes 37 degrees HIGH NORTH POLE, the latitude of Seoul, the compass with gilt-leaf uninscribed dial, the well-modelled iron needle with brass cap beneath the glass (cracked) with copper retaining ring, the upper rim labelled with hours 1-3pm, through 11-1am, to 11-1pm, and with compass directions, on either side incised Chinese characters in red, reading upwarded-pot sundial (ie scaphe dial), the underside with two columns of incised characters reading Tongzhi yi zhoo nian (ie indicating the year of manufacture during the reign of Tongzhi) -- 2¾in. (7cm.) long, 1in. (2.6cm.) deep

See Colour Illustrations

Special notice

Notice Regarding the Sale of Ivory and Tortoiseshell Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing ivory or tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

The Emperor Tongzhi ascended to the throne of China in 1861 at the age of just six years old. His father Xianfeng had fled from the Anglo-French invasion of 1860 and died the following year. Tongzhi remained on the throne for thirteen years, until his death in 1874, just short of his twentieth birthday. In his name the "Tongzhi Restoration" was undertaken, to re-establish the basic values of Confucian government. However, for the duration of his reign, the real power lay with his mother, Ci Xi, the Dragon Empress, who staged a coup d'etat following Tongzhi's coming to power, to eliminate the Council of Regents. She was effectively the power behind the throne (occupied by Emperor Guang Xu) up until her death in 1908. She spent a huge amount of misappropriated funds meant for the Chinese navy in restoring the Summer Palace and the Yuanmingyuan gardens (the excuse being that she was establishing a naval training school there), with the result that the navy were ill-equipped to fight the Sino-Japanese war of 1895, which they lost resoundingly. Ci Xi's reputation was that almost everything she had done was harmful to the nation and almost entirely self-serving. Her final words were reputed to be "never again allow a woman to hold the supreme power in the state".