Imperial jade seal. Estimate: £1m to £1.5m. Sold for £3.4m. Photo: Bonhams.

LONDON.- An important Imperial spinach green jade double-gourd ‘San Xi Tang’ seal, of the revered Qianlong period (1736-1795), one of the outstanding items in Bonhams Fine Chinese Art sale in London today, sold for £3.4m. 

It had been estimated to sell for £1m to £1.5m but after stiff bidding in the packed saleroom it was knocked down to a telephone buyer from mainland China. So this stunningly beautiful Imperial seal will be going home. 

Asaph Hyman, Director of Chinese Art at Bonhams, comments: “We are delighted to have brought to light this important and long lost Imperial seal. Until this moment only the impression of the seal was recorded in the Imperial archives, but now academics and distinguished collectors can study and cherish the actual work of art. It was almost certainly commissioned and personally handled by the Qianlong Emperor himself, and provides a direct link to one of the most important Emperors in China’s history.” 

The seal is carved in an auspicious double-gourd form, associated with longevity as well as representing Heaven and Earth. The upper section is carved with three chi dragons (chilong), analogous to the hall name. 

San Xi Tang, (the Hall of the Three Rarities), is situated in the Forbidden City in the western side of the Yangxin Dian (Hall of Mental Cultivation). The Qianlong Emperor kept three prized rare scrolls in the building: Wang Xizhi’s Kuaixue Shiqing Tie (timely clearing after snowfall), Wang Xianzhi’s Zhongqiu (Mid-Autumn festival), and Wang Xun’s Bai Yuan Tie (letter to Boyuan), amongst other important antiquities. The actual size of the San Xi Tang hall in which the seal was kept is only 4 square meters but it was an important personal space of the Qianlong Emperor. 

Other top lots in the Bonhams sale included: 

Lot 141, an Imperial cloisonné enamel and gilt-bronze incense burner of the Qianlong period, for £780,450. 

Lot 297, a magnificent blanc-de-Chine figure of Guanyin circa 1640, for £529,250. 

Lot 101, a rare and important marble figure of a Buddhist disciple from the Tang Dynasty, for £457,250. 

Lot 19, a superb and very rare pair of pale green jade vases from the 18th century, for £409,250.  

An Imperial fine and rare cloisonné enamel and gilt-bronze incense burner and tiered stand. Cast Qianlong four-character mark and of the period. Photo: Bonhams.

Formed in three parts, the centre as a globular bowl cast in crisp high relief with monks praying and attending a Buddhist image, accompanying a figure of a Buddha on an elephant, and surrounded by auspicious animals, an incense burner at one side issuing plumes of smoke, all on a pale turquoise ground densely enriched with foliage and leafy coils, standing on three lion-mask stocky legs and set with two relief-cast scroll handles at the sides, the upper section as a separate cylinder simulating a circular Buddhist shrine allowing access to the interior through six apertures each surrounded by elaborately-coiling and confronted dragons beneath a flaming pearl, the top set with a stylised tiled roof, all standing on a circular tiered partially-zitan base, applied with two horizontal bands of cloisonné enamel edging and set with six 'dragon and phoenix' panels cast in crisp relief. 

The incense burner 38cm (15in) high, overall 58cm (22½in) high (3). Sold for £780,450 

陽文「乾隆年製」楷書款

The present incense burner is demonstrably one of the finest examples of Imperial cloisonné enamel craftsmanship and technical ingenuity produced during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. This is evident in the complex form and design and the attention to detail, from the cast and then finely-chased gilt-bronze figural scenes around the body, to the gilt-bronze pagoda tiers and the impressive size. This quality is matched in the remarkable and complex stand incorporating precious woods, champlevé and cloisonné enamel techniques and superbly-chased gilt-bronze plaques depicting alternating dragon and phoenix. It is reasonable to deduct that such a creation would have been especially commissioned by the Imperial Court for the use of the Emperor and would have been made possibly as a single pair.

Compare a related gilt-bronze and cloisonné enamel incense burner and cover, attributed to the Qianlong period (71cm high), illustrated in Colorful, Elegant and Exquisite: A Special Exhibition of Imperial Enamel Ware from Mr Robert Chang's Collection, Suzhou, 2007, pp.106-107.

A magnificent blanc-de-Chine figure of Guanyin. Impressed He Chaozong mark, circa 1640. Photo: Bonhams.

The gentle Goddess of Mercy expertly carved seated with serene expression, her hair in a high chignon bound by an intricate lotus tiara with a small Amitabha figure in the centre and covered with a long veil sweeping over the shoulders, the delicate hands gently clasped in her lap in samadhi pose, the richly sculpted robe gathered at the high waist revealing a jewelled lotus pendant on the chest, and flowing down in thick folds to cover the feet and parts of the double lotus pedestal, all covered with a rich creamy glaze, fitted box. 37.4cm (14 3/4in) high (2). Sold for £529,250

約1640年 德化白瓷觀音像 「何朝宗印」款 

Provenance: acquired from S.Marchant & Son, London, on 2 July 1999.

The Property of a Gentleman of Title

He Chaozong is considered to be one of the greatest master potters of Dehua figures, excelling at creating statues of Buddha, Guanyin and of immortals for palaces and temples. According to P.J.Donnelly, he was particularly devoted to Guanyin. By absorbing various techniques of clay modelling, wood tooling and stone carving, He Chaozong created his own method which became known as the He School. His works can be found in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing and in leading private collections and museums in Europe.

Compare a similar seated Guanyin figure bearing a He Chaozong mark, illustrated by P.J.Donnelly in Blanc De Chine: The Porcelain of Têhua in Fukien, New York, 1969, pl.150D, later in the Koger Collection. For another example see also R.Blumenfield, Blanc De Chine: The Great Porcelain of Dehua, California, 2002, p.130, fig.A.

A related blanc-de-Chine figure of Guanyin, signed He Chaozong, was sold in these rooms on 10 November 2011, lot 210.

A rare and important marble figure of a Buddhist disciple. Tang Dynasty. Photo Bonhams

The graceful sculpture, probably representing Ananda, carved from warm grey-toned marble standing facing directly forwards with his gaze serenely downcast through narrowed eyes, the nose elegantly arched above the small slightly-pursed mouth, the head smooth and bald with elongated ears, the right hand peacefully grasping the left wrist in front of the body, the shoulders gently rounded and covered on both sides with a draped robe falling in simple heavy folds down to reveal a more gathered underskirt just above the bare feet standing on a single lotus pedestal carved from the same block of stone; the sculpture sold with the four-volume corpus raisonné of Chinese sculpture, O.Siren, Annales du Musée Guimet, Bibliothèque d'Art, Nouvelle Série I, La Sculpture Chinoise de Ve au VIVe Siècle, Paris, 1926; and also an auction catalogue of the collection of Mr Mamdouh Riaz,Ancien Ministre, Cairo, 1955. 62cm (24 3/8in) high (6). Sold for £457,250  

唐 大理石雕佛徒 (或阿難陀)

Provenance: Collection Rousset, Paris
The Collection of Mr Mamdouh Riaz, Ancien Ministre, Cairo, 1955
A European private collection

Illustrated: O.Siren, Annales du Musée Guimet, Bibliothèque d'Art, Nouvelle Série I, La Sculpture Chinoise de Ve au XIVe Siècle, Tome III, Paris, 1926, pl.374.

The Tang Dynasty Emperors used all three major beliefs – Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism - to secure popular support for their dynasty and in so doing reinforced the close association of sculpture and state; see A.Paludan, Chinese Sculpture: A Great Tradition, Chicago, 2006, p.270. The present extremely rare marble figure of a luohan belongs to the Buddhist category and closely resembles sculptures of disciples flanking Buddha in the Qianfodong (Cave of a Thousand Buddhas) dated to the early Tang period; see also those in the Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, Henan Province, illustrated by A.Paludan, ibid. p.293, fig.178; and other examples in Cyugoku Sekkutsu: Ryumon Sekkutsu, vol.2, Heibonsha series, 1988, pls.55 and 64.

Compare also a similar but larger (92cm high) sandstone figure of a luohan, Tang Dynasty, identified as Sravaka, in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm (fig.1), illustrated in Zhong guo lin shi hai wai fo jiao zao xiang zhong he tu mu, vol.6, Beijing, 2005, p.1137 (Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Buddhist Statues in Overseas Collections). However, it is possible that the present figure is a representation of Buddha's disciple Ananda, who (together with Kasyapa) is often portrayed flanking Buddha.

The present figure is a remarkable achievement, successfully rendering the peaceful and contemplative expression, and the elegant and finely sculpted lines of the robe falling over the shoulders and draping the body in a realistic manner. The figure unusually retains traces of lacquer.

Compare a similar marble figure of a monk, Tang Dynasty, but missing its head, sold at Christie's New York, 24-25 March 2011, lot 1303.