A RARE IMPERIAL GRAY JADE 'QIANLONG YULAN ZHIBAO' SEAL QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

the cylindrical base surmounted by a recumbent qilong coiled with his head resting on his tail, well-carved with natural black and white tone inclusions cleverly manipulated to amplify the body form, the central cavity fashioned in openwork, the curved sides exposing the water-ripple shaped scrolling veins, the seal face carved with Qianlong yulan zhibao ('seal for the appreciation of His Majesty Qianlong')

The jade, a Ming dynasty carving, has a .5cm section of the bifurcated tail creating a small loop that is broken. The seal face has a few old minute chips to the edges. The seal retains an attractive patina from being handled.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The ingenuity of the craftsman of the present piece is evident in the cleverly conceived and beautifully executed design, which also serves as a vehicle for displaying the inherent qualities of the material. The dark veins ripple around the base of the seal to create a sense of movement, while the carver has taken full advantage of the dark areas of stone to detail the face and back half of the body. See a jade seal attributed to the Song dynasty (960-1279) that similarly utilises the natural colourings, carved with a mythical creature on a square base, in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, illustrated in Chinese Jades: Archaic and Modern, London, 1977, pl. 176. Compare also a seal with the black upper area of the stone carved to depict a dragon and the lower white section for the base, from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 19^th September 2007, lot 83.

The seal is carved in an archaistic manner, a style favoured by the Qianlong emperor. While the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty incorporated archaistic motifs to  legitimise their legitimacy to the throne, this seal also reveals the Qianlong emperor's disdain for the contemporary taste in jade workmanship. Criticising the new designs as vulgar and undecorated, hence a wasteful use of the precious material, his promotion of archaism also arose as a reaction against this popular trend (see William Watson and Chuimei Ho, The Arts of China After 1620, London, 2007, p. 87).

The Qianlong Emperor was a passionate art collector and patron.  Under his personal direction, many treasures that had been dispersed were reassembled.  Paintings and calligraphy were given magnificent new mountings with the addition of his colophons, poetic comments and seals. He assessed them indulgently and gave them his seal of approval. It is no surprise, therefore, that the first seal that he ordered to have made when he became the emperor was a seal with the inscription of Qianlong yulan zhi bao ('Seal for the Appreciation of his Majesty Qianlong').  The seal was to be impressed on treasures he had personally examined and approved. An oval Qianlong yulan zhi bao seal impressed among the seven seals on Shiqu Baoji, catalogue of imperial collection of calligraphy and paintings compiled in 1744-45, was the most frequently used seal by the emperor Qianlong.

The custom of impressing seals on paintings or calligraphy began in the 7th century, when written documents were pasted together to form handscrolls and impressed with seals over the seams to authenticate them.  The tradition continued into the Yuan dynasty when the Mongol rulers began to impress large seals on the paintings in the imperial collection.  Private collectors of the Ming and Qing periods also stamped their personal seals on paintings in their personal collection.  Emperor Qianlong adopted this custom, developing his own standard set for works in the imperial collection, comprising three, six or eight seals, carefully selected and impressed on works of art with an overall composition and aesthetic balance in mind.