Page 393 - Christies Fine Chinese Works of Art March 2016 New York

1692 1692

A SOAPSTONE SQUARE SEAL
MING DYANSTY OR LATER

The seal is of square section, and carved
on the four sides with inscriptions, one of
which includes a Jiajing jiyou cyclical date
(1549), and one with the signature, Maoyuan
Wen Peng. The seal face is carved with fve
characters, chang zhai xiu fo qian (abstinence
in the presence of Buddha), in seal script, and
the top with a transcription of the seal face in
standard script.

2¡ in. (6 cm.) high, seal box, Japanese wood
box

$7,000-9,000

PROVENANCE

By repute, collection of the Prince Kinmochi
Saionji (1849-1940), twice Prime Minister of
Japan.

Wang Peng (1498-1573) was the son of Wen
Zhengming, a celebrated Ming dynasty painter.
明或以後 壽山石方章
邊款：浣為暘谷世兄篆于青士草堂，茂苑文彭，嘉靖
己酉夏五月上。
印文：長齋綉佛前。

THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH

•1693

AN INSCRIBED TIANHUANG SEAL

Of rectangular section with an irregular
upper corner, the seal carved on one broad
side with a dedicatory inscription, the seal
face inscribed with fve characters, jia zai
yingxiongcheng (The City of Heroes is [my]
hometown).

1æ in. (4.5 cm.) tall, box

$15,000-20,000

Ying Xiong City is another name for Nanchang
city, which was recognized by the ruling
Communist Party of China as “the City of Heroes”
since 1949, where the People’s Liberation Army
was born.

The inscription on the side states that the seal
was carved by Cui Jin for Wen Jiang in the ninth
month of the yisi year (1965), when Cui Jin was at
the age of seventy-one.
田黃長方章

1693

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