Page 93 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

3643 The exceptional carving of both the finial and the inscription
of the present seal demonstrates the superior craftmanship
PROPERTY OF A LADY of the carver. There is a clear record of this seal in the Jiaqing
AN IMPERIAL SPINACH-GREEN JADE ‘HUI QI Baosou [Collection of Jiaqing Emperor’s imperial seals],
YOU JI’ SEAL revealing that this seal was one of a set of three, the other two
seals being Xianfu Gong (Palace of Universal Happiness) and
QING DYNASTY, JIAQING PERIOD Xu yi shou ren (‘Encounter others with an open mind’). This
the plain high square base surmounted by a finial rendered in shows that these three seals were made with the intention of
openwork as a ferocious dragon in pursuit of a flaming pearl, placing them in the Xianfu Palace.
its undulating body with finely incised scales meandering The phrase Hui qi you ji (‘Maintain one’s standards’) comes
within dense cloud scrolls, its head depicted with bulging eyes from the Hongfan [Grand standards] chapter of the Shangshu
and flared nostrils, the seal face deeply and crisply worked with [Classic of History], in which Jizi explains to King Wu of
the four characters Hui qi you ji (‘Maintain one’s standards’), Zhou the Grand Standards in Nine Categories, that is, the
a phrase excerpted from Shangshu [The Book of History], the nine important standards for governing. From these source

stone of a dark green colour with areas of darker speckling materials, we can see that the inscriptions of these two seals
7 cm, 2¾ in. are both about how to rule. The hui of Hui qi you ji literally
means to gather, and ji means rule or standard. Hence, hui
PROVENANCE Seal face 印面 qi you ji means to gather the norms of the empire into one’s
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 5th October 2011, lot 1910. person, or more idiomatically, to maintain one’s standards -
what the Jiaqing Emperor took to be the important tasks of the
emperor’s cultivating morality and carrying out the practice of
HK$ 3,000,000-4,000,000 government.
US$ 388,000-520,000
Please see the online catalogue on our official website for an
essay written by Guo Fuxiang.
清嘉慶 嘉慶帝御寶鏤雕龍鈕碧玉璽
印文：會其有極

來源：
香港蘇富比2011年10月5日，編號1910

此璽碧玉質，無論是印鈕還是印文的雕琢都精細熟
練，爽辣異常，顯示出雕琢者的高超技藝。此璽在《
嘉慶寶藪》中有明確著錄，無論是質地、體量大小，
還是篆法佈局都與該書中的記載完全相合。此璽為三
Seal impression 印文
方組璽中的一方，與之相配的另外兩方璽分別為「咸
福宮」璽和「虛以受人」璽，是為放置在咸福宮中而
專門製作的。
按「會其有極」典出《尚書．洪範篇》，講的是武王
克商後，向箕子請教天道之義，箕子便以洪範九疇相
告。第五〈建用皇極〉云：「會其有極，歸其有極」
，「會」為會集之意，「極」則是法則、準則，「會
其有極」是講人君會集天下之準則於一身，從而使天
下人遵從之、效法之，推衍開來則是人君應該成為天
下人的楷模。
郭福祥就此璽撰有專文，詳見官網圖錄。

Impression from Jiaqing baosou
《嘉慶寶藪》內之印文

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