Lot 116. Property sold to benefit the Newark museum acquisition endowment. A rare imperial gilt-decorated iron-red and underglaze-blue 'dragon' seal paste box and cover, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing (1796-1820). Diameter 11.8 cm, Lot sold 444,500 USD (Estimate 200,000 - 300,000 USD). © Sotheby's 2024

the cover inscribed to the center with three characters reading Maoqin dian in gilt within a rectangle, all outlined in iron red, the base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue (2)

Provenance: Collection of Herman A. E. (d.1951) and Paul C. (d. 1951) Jaehne.

Gifted to The Newark Museum, Newark, in 1941 (accession no. 41.985a,b).

Note:  Powerfully painted with ferocious dragons leaping proudly amongst billowing clouds, the present box is remarkable for its formidable decoration and its inscription to the cover, ascribing the present lot to the prominent imperial hall, Maoqindian (Hall of Great Diligence). Maoqindian, built in the 14th year of the Jiajing period (corresponding to 1535), is located to the west of Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly Purity) in the Forbidden City. A historically important place in the Palace, the hall served as a place for emperors to review memorials, study and enjoy academic discussions with his closest entourage. Continuing the traditions of the Ming dynasty, the Qing emperors also continued to utilize the room for official purposes: it is recorded that the Kangxi Emperor used the hall as his own study during his reign. Officials were also assigned to work at the hall on important projects; the third sections of the Shiqu baoji [Shiqu Collection of Paintings and Calligraphy] and Midian zhulin [Pearls in the Private Halls], for instance, were completed within Maoqindian during the Jiaqing period. The hall was also designated to house classics, historical records as well as imperial works of art pertaining to the desk, such as seals, brushes, and seal paste boxes like the present.

This type continued to be produced under the Qianlong Emperor, and Qianlong mark and period bowls of this design are more commonly found. See a Qianlong mark and period bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. Gu 152688), illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong: Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 334, pl. 15; another in the Nanjing Museum, included in the exhibition Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Nanjing Museum, 1995, cat. no. 84; a further bowl in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. CIRC.1355-1926), illustrated in Rose Kerr, Chinese Ceramics: Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911, London, 1986, fig. 27; lastly, a pair recently sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 12th October 2021, lot 25.

From records, it appears that a large portion of imperial seals were kept in Maoqindian. Shen Chu, a court official during the Qianlong period, recorded in the fourth chapter of Xiqing biji [Notes of Xiqing] that 'all bronze, jade and stone imperial seals are kept in Maoqindian. Whenever calligraphy and paintings with imperial handwriting were done, the relevant ministers would choose the appropriate seals and stamp them on the works.' According to Guochao gongshi xubian [Court History, Second Series], 'the Catalogue of the Jiaqing imperial seals records more than nine hundred seals preserved in Maoqindian', further attesting to the importance of the hall in the preservation and safekeeping of imperial seals.

According to court records, during the Qing dynasty, calligraphy and paintings after authentication would be sent to Maoqindian for seal impressions. Large seal paste boxes like the present would have most likely have been used for these purposes. Outstanding examples bearing the seal Maoqindian jianding zhang (‘Seal of Connoisseurship at the Hall of Great Diligence’) include Timely Clearing After Snowfall by Wang Xizhi (303-361), now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession no. 故書000141), and the Southern Song rubbing of the Model Calligraphy of the Chunhua Archive, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing (accession no. 故00004678-1/10 ).

The three-clawed dragons on the cover, as well as the difference in the portrayal of the two dragons suggest that this piece was perhaps produced during the first four years of the Jiaqing period when his father, the Qianlong Emperor, reigned as the Emperor Emeritus. Depictions of an impressive and powerful dragon in the company of a younger dragon, usually facing each other, are understood to represent the proverb ‘canglong jiaozi’ which translates to ‘the old dragon teaches his son’ - a fitting metaphor for the relationship between the Jiaqing Emperor and the Emperor Emeritus.

The present box and cover is very rare and only a few comparable examples are known. A box and cover from the Qing Court Collection, still preserved with residual red seal paste, now in the collection of Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Scholar’s Objects, Hong Kong, 2009, pl. 288 (fig. 1); one exhibited in Animal in Chinese Art, Oriental Ceramic Society, London, 1968, cat. no. 97, was sold twice in these rooms, 3rd December 1974, lot 480 and 23rd October 1976, lot 322; two others were sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 13th December 1977, lot 539 and 8th November 1982, lot 163 respectively, and another at Christie’s Hong Kong, 13th January 1987, lot 519. Another box, formerly in the collection of J.M. Hu, was sold in these rooms, 4th June 1985, lot 77, later entering the Yidetang Collection and sold again at Christie's Hong Kong, 28th May 2021, lot 2947; and lastly, one formerly in the collection of Abigail Adams, a descendant of the former American President John Quincy Adams, was sold at Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006, lot 445.

Fig. 1 An imperial gilt-decorated iron-red and underglaze-blue ‘dragon’ seal paste box and cover, Seal mark and period of Jiaqing © The Palace Museum, Beijing