Page 72 - Sothebys HK Dragon Emperor April 2024
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EMILE GUIMET (1836-1918) AND HIS
IMPERIAL SEAL COLLECTION
This seal belonged to the French industrialist, philanthropist imperial seals, forming arguably the greatest private
and composer Emile Guimet (1836-1918), the founder of collection of this category. These acquisitions were carefully
the eponymous Asian art museum in Paris. He purchased and chronologically catalogued. According to the archive,
most of his seals, including the present lot from the Parisian Emile Guimet acquired a soapstone ‘Qianlong yubi’ seal
gallerist Florine Langweil (1861-1958) who specialised in from Mr Bigot on 2nd March 1903 (ref. no. 1406), which was
Oriental art at the beginning of the 20th century. eventually sold in these rooms, 8th October 2009, lot 1652.
From 1895 until his passing in 1918, Emile Guimet acquired It is also recorded that he purchased three seals – including
a great number of Chinese, Japanese, Himalayan and one he later gifted to the Dowager Empress Cixi – from
Southeast Asian works of art and paintings, together with Mrs Langweil on 17th January 1905, a few days before the
Egyptian and Gallo-Roman antiquities, amongst them acquisition of the present seal (ref. no. 1689).
愛米爾．吉美與其御璽珍藏
此玉璽屬法國工業兼作曲家愛米爾．吉美（1836- 市中心設店，甚有名聲。愛米爾藏品目錄清晰，依
1918年，圖六）舊藏。他樂善好施，創立巴黎國立吉 購入先後登記在冊。如1903年3月2日，愛米爾從另一
美亞洲藝術博物館。從1895年起，直至辭世為止，愛 藝商 Bigot 購得一方壽山石「乾隆御筆」爭珠游龍鈕
米爾蒐藏大量中國、日本、喜馬拉雅及東南亞繪畫與 方璽（登錄編號1406），該璽後售於香港蘇富此2009
藝術品，又涉獵埃及與高盧羅馬古代文物，其中宮廷 年10月8日，編號1652。1905年1月17日，愛米爾又經
璽印收藏尤豐，可謂私人珍蓄之冠。 Langweil 購得三方印璽（登錄編號1382、1685及1687
），其中一方後贈予慈禧太后。隔日，愛米爾又自
愛米爾典藏中之寶璽御印，不少購自巴黎骨董 Langweil 購藏，那正是此「乾隆御筆」白玉方璽（登
商 Florine Langweil（1861-1958年），此品正屬其 錄編號1689）。
一。Langweil 自二十世紀初專營東方藝術品，在巴黎
fig. 6. Emile Guimet (1836-1918)
圖六 愛米爾．吉美（1836-1918年）
