AN IMPERIAL RUSSET JADE 'JIAQING YUSHANG' SEAL QING DYNASTY, JIAQING PERIOD

the attractive russet stone sensationally worked and polished with the uttermost precision in the form of a pedestal of square section, surmounted by a boldly articulated dragon depicted crouching on its haunches with its head above a flaming pearl amidst ruyi-shaped cloud swirls, its powerful claws meticulously rendered and its sinuous body intricately detailed with incisions, the underside skilfully worked in relief with four seal characters Jiaqing yushang ('Appreciated by his Majesty of the Jiaqing period') 

In overall good condition. There is a minute bruise to one of the brow bones of the dragon. There is a small chip to the tip of the dragon's tail. Minute nicks to the extremities as can be expected.
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On the Imperial Jade Seal Jiaqing Yushang
Guo Fuxiang

The Emperors of the Qing Dynasty used a great variety of official seals. By their textual contents, seals may be divided into several types including: seals of rank, name, and reign year; palace seals; collector’s seals; and seals of auspicious sayings. While different, these various types of seals all reflect the emperors’ thoughts and interests. Seals of rank, name, and reign year and collector’s seals are particularly coveted by collectors because their ownership can be pinpointed. This is certainly true for the current Imperial seal, which reads Jiaqing yushang. Carved from archaic-style russet jade, this seal is 4.7 cm in height, and the seal face is square 4.1 cm in width. Its finial is in the form of a coiled dragon, and its four-character seal text is in seal script and embossed. This seal is well documented in Jiaqing Baosou, a catalogue of Jiaqing’s Imperial seals preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and matches its impression in form, size, calligraphic style and composition.

The Jiaqing Emperor, whose personal name was Yongyan, was the fifth emperor of the Qing Dynasty. His twenty-five year reign was an important transitional period between the golden age of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong and the subsequent decline of the Qing Empire. In many ways, it could be said that his reign was highly complicated. Compared to other Qing emperors, Jiaqing possessed many seals. According to court conventions, upon his accession every emperor needed to have his own set of seals made in order to use them in his literary and artistic activities. While differing in their texts, these early imperial seals mostly included the new emperors’ reign titles and are therefore unequivocally associated with their owners. Their texts were usually in the form of XX zhi bao [‘seal of emperor so-and-so’], XX yulan zhi bao [‘viewing seal of the emperor so-and-so’], XX yulan [‘viewed by emperor so-and-so’], XX yubi [‘written by emperor so-and-so’], XX jianshang [‘appreciated by emperor so-and-so’], XX chenhan [‘imperial brush traces by emperor so-and-so’], etc. The Kangxi Emperor, for example, had seals reading Kangxi yubi zhi bao, Kangxi yulan zhi bao, Kangxi chenhan, Kangxi yulan, among others. The Yongzheng Emperor had seals reading Yongzheng yulan zhi bao, Yongzheng yubi zhi bao, Yongzheng chenhan, etc. The Qianlong Emperor had seals reading Qianlong yulan zhi bao, Qianlong yubi zhi bao, Qianlong yubi, Qianlong chenhan, Qianlong jianshang, etc. Of course, for every reign title there were seals of multiple formats, materials and sizes. These seals were not passed down from one emperor to the next, and were therefore exclusive to specific emperors and can be reliably attributed to them. The Jiaqing Emperor was no exception, leaving behind seals reading Jiaqing yubi zhi bao, Jiaqing yubi, Jiaqing chenhan, Jiaqing yulan zhi bao, Jiaqing jianshang, Jiaqing yushang, Jiaqing yulan, Jiaqing, etc. The present seal dates from the early period of Jiaqing’s reign.

According to Jiaqing baosou, the current seal was one of a set of three seals, yajiao zhang, used to make impressions at the right or left corner of a painting or piece of calligraphy. The other two seals read Youfu huixin [‘with the heart seeking to benefit’] and Zhengde liyong housheng [‘Establish righteous morals; use resources for benefit; improve living’]. The first is a quotation from the Book of Changes, “The fifth nine, undivided, shows its subject with sincere heart seeking to benefit (all below). There need be no question about it; the result will be great good fortune. (All below) will with sincere heart acknowledge his goodness.” The “fifth nine” is a way to refer to the emperor, and the inference of this line is that the emperor who seeks to benefit his subjects will enjoy a long and peaceful rule. The second seal is a quotation from the section of ‘The Counsels of Great Yu’ in the Book of Documents. Its implication is that an emperor should rectify his subjects’ morals, use resources for their benefit, and establish a life-enriching environment for them. Both seals are therefore the Jiaqing Emperor’s admonishments to himself. Perhaps his original intention in having them carved was to motivate himself to become a virtuous emperor concerned with his subjects. The combination of these three seals provides us with a glimpse into Jiaqing’s thought processes.

The following characters of the Jiaqing yushang seal deserve further explanation. The first is its material. This seal is made from somewhat typical archaic-style jade, with a greenish-white overall color and fine, light-brown patterns. The cracks show clear changes in color. All these characteristics fit what the Qing court called ‘Han dynasty’ jade. The use of Han jades reached a highly mature peak during the Qianlong and Jiaqing Emperors’ reigns, when many of the ruset-brown skins of jade boulders were consciously exploited to create an archaic effect. During this period, personal accessories, household furnishings, and everyday objects made of jade often show the influence of archaic jade, and imperial seals are no exception. Many imperial seals were made from archaic-style jade to begin with, and this Jiaqing yushang seal is a typical example. The second noteworthy characteristic of this seal is its finial, which is finely sculpted in the form of a dragon intertwined with clouds. The dragon’s head is robust and imposing, its four claws spread across the four corners of the seal, and its body weaves in and out of auspicious clouds, sometimes articulated down to individual nails. The dragon demonstrates the sheer skill of jade carvers at the time. The third noteworthy characteristic is the rarity of the seal text. Among all the reign-marked seals of the Jiaqing Emperor, this is the only one that reads yushang. The Jiaqing Emperor undoubtedly impressed it on books and painting from antiquity and present day.