Page 204 - Christie's Hong Kong Important Chinese Works Of Art May 30 2022

2927
A RARE TIANHUANG ‘ELEPHANT AND
BOY’ OVAL SEAL

KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
The finial is finely carved as a recumbent elephant with
finely incised markings to indicate its hide, by its side a
foreigner wearing a jacket and pantaloons stands with one
foot resting on the elephant’s trunk as he hands an object to
another similarly dressed figure sprawled beside a hooked
staff atop a patterned blanket draped over the elephant’s
back, with the two-character signature, Shangjun,
incorporated in the narrow band of interlocking C-scrolls
at the top of the oval block, which is later-inscribed on one
side, Kugong shu Kutie (Kugong requested Kutie [to carve
the seal face]), the seal face reading: pi qin (infatuated with
the qin), the stone of mottled pale caramel colour.
1æ in. (4.5 cm.) high, 39g, cloth box
HK$1,500,000-2,500,000 US$200,000-320,000
(mark) (back view 背面)
P R O V E NAN C E :
The Xu Hanqing Collection
Sold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2011, lot 932

The present seal is accompanied by a cloth box bearing the
inscriptions of the collector Xu Hanqing. Inscriptions on the
cover of the box and the interior of the cover state that the seal
finial was carved by Shangjun ‘from cold tianhuang stone’;
that Kutie refers to Wu Changshou (1844-1927); and that
Kugong refers to Duan Fang (1861-1911).

Shangjun is the style name of Zhou Bin, a native of Zhangzhou
in Fujian. He was active in the Kangxi era and was deemed (impression 印文)
“the foremost knob-carver of early Qing.” His works were known
for their distinctive character, exaggerated representation
and unique shape, and were often mentioned in the notes of
Qing scholars.
Wu Changshuo was a central figure in Chinese painting
during the early years of the 20th century. He was known for
his calligraphic work and seals, which were famous for their
elegance. His style of carving was known as the ‘Wu style’.
In 1904, he became the first director of the Xiling Seal Carving
Society, an organization in Hangzhou dedicated to studying
seal carving.

Duan Fang, pseudonym Tao Zhai, was a late Qing dynasty
government official who amassed an extraordinary collection
of Chinese art. Known as the Taozhai Collection, it included
Neolithic jades, Shang and Zhou dynasty bronzes, landscape
paintings and Buddhist sculpture. In 1909, he published
Taozhai jijin xulu, the first catalogue to use the photolithographic
process to print rubbings of bronzes.
The current lot in the accompanying cloth box
The present seal was in the collection of the Republic-period 本拍品於錦盒內
businessman and collector Xu Hanqing. Xu Hanqing, originally
named Fubing and a native of Yancheng in Jiangsu, was born
in Shandong province in 1882. He became a successful
national banker of great means, as well as a renowned collector.
His collection was particularly rich in Chinese paintings,
rubbings of Chinese calligraphy, coins and currency.

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