An exceptional imperial tanxiangmu 'Jingtian Qinmin' seal Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 康熙帝御寶檀香木異獸鈕方璽 印文：敬天勤民

Property from an Important Private Asian Collection

An exceptional imperial tanxiangmu 'Jingtian Qinmin' seal

Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

重要亞洲私人收藏

清康熙 康熙帝御寶檀香木異獸鈕方璽 印文：敬天勤民

of square section with thick sides, surmounted by a recumbent mythical beast resting imposingly on the entirety of the seal top, its mighty body with rounded shoulders and haunches defined with stylised scrolls above its four-toed paw feet, the rear right one placed atop the right side, the body bordered with an undulating border dramatised with billowy ribs, the beast portrayed with an elongated equine head with a slightly upturned snout and eyes shaped like water chestnuts centred with small pupils, flanked by a pair of furled ears, the forehead accentuated with a subtly ridged long horn extending along the back of the head and terminating with a small curl to the right, furcated locks of mane depicted silhouetting the curled horn and falling neatly to the sides, the sides pierced through the centre with an aperture to thread a tassel, the seal face deeply carved with technical precision with the characters Jingtian qinmin (‘Revere Heaven and serve thy people'), the wood of an attractive rich caramel-brown colour

10.2 by 10.2 by h. 11 cm