CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736-1795) - Lot 114

Lot n° 114
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50000 - 60000 EUR
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Result : 305 500EUR
CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736-1795) - Lot 114
CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736-1795) Square-shaped celadon nephrite seal with brown vein surmounted by a reclining chilong. On the reverse, the Zhuanshu inscription: Lian hua shi (蓮華室) : Lotus Pavilion (Accidents) Dim. 3.2 x 3.2 x 3.6 cm Prior registration with the firm is required in order to bid. [NO LIVE ON THIS LOT] Please register with the auction house to bid. [NO LIVE ON THIS LOT] 請提前與本公司負責人聯繫,辦理相關競投手續。 PROVENANCE: - Pierre PLAS Collection; - Collection Jacques and Charlotte PLAS by inheritance from the previous owner NOTE : The culture of stamps in China flourished under the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chinese seals can be divided into two main categories: on the one hand, official or personal identification and signature seals, such as state seals, imperial seals, those of empresses and concubines, and administrative seals; on the other, pleasure seals, which bear neither name nor official title, but verses wishing good fortune or expressing a state of mind, aspiration or literary taste. These are known as "free stamps" (xian zhang). In the Ming and Qing eras, their development was largely favored by economic prosperity and the boom in the art of cachet engraving. Of the twelve emperors of the Qing dynasty, Emperor Qianlong was undoubtedly the greatest connoisseur of this art. He possessed both the largest number of seals and those most remarkable for their quality. It is estimated that he owned over 1,800 of them, of which around 700 have now disappeared, while a thousand are kept in the Forbidden City Museum. Imperial seals come in a variety of shapes shapes - square, round, rectangular or oval - and are made from a variety of materials: nephrite, wood, gold, silver, bronze or precious stones. Carved from celadon nephrite, the "Lian hua shi" (Lotus Pavilion) seal bears witness to the particular prestige accorded to nephrite in the manufacture of imperial seals, a tradition dating back to Qin Shi Huang, founder of the first unified Chinese empire. Under the Qing dynasty, the majority of imperial seals were made in white or celadon nephrite. The Lotus Pavilion, to which this stamp refers, is located in the Chengde Mountain Residence (Jehol). Located on the west side of the second floor of the Yunshan Shengdi Palace, this Buddhist hall houses a statue of Guanyin carved in green nephrite. Every year, on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Qianlong emperor came here to admire the moon. Thanks to its commanding position and vast panorama, the site offers an unobstructed view of the surrounding lakes and mountains, making it the best place in the entire residence to contemplate the moon. Imperial empresses and concubines also came here to pray for blessings and happiness. During his sixty-year reign, Emperor Qianlong spent forty-eight summers at the Chengde Mountain Residence, usually leaving Beijing in early July and returning in late September or early October. Here, he celebrated forty-three mid-autumn festivals. As his birthday fell just two days before this festival, this period held a particularly happy and festive significance for him. Deeply attached to this place, the Qianlong emperor composed more than a dozen poems dedicated to the Lotus Pavilion. The most famous, entitled Poem to the Lotus Pavilion, evokes the spiritual serenity of the site: "Amidst the mountains and clouds of the Chengde Mountain Residence rises a lofty pavilion, while the Lotus Pavilion seems even higher. Facing the moon reflected in the water and the moon suspended in the sky, the emperor meditates on the eternity of time and the permanence of the seasons. Freed from the preoccupations of the profane world, he also expresses his gratitude to the benevolent protection of his ancestors". The Lotus Pavilion thus remains one of the most romantic, poetic and Buddhist-spiritual places in the entire Chengde Mountain Residence. 中國印章文化發展至明清,進入了前所未有的鼎盛時期,文人在藝術創作時無不追求書畫印的有機結合,以臻完美之境。 清代帝王大量精美的印璽,即為當時社會印章文化的反映。 有清一代,除國璽之外,數量最多者為帝王們平日鈐諸於書畫上的各式閑章,其種類繁多、包羅萬象,若以璽文內容分類,這方 "蓮華室 "青玉璽當為乾隆朝宮殿璽。 宮殿璽肇始
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