Chinese Seal Believed to Be from Imperial Summer Palace Sacked in 1860, for Sale at Bonhams
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, November 5, 2024


Chinese Seal Believed to Be from Imperial Summer Palace Sacked in 1860, for Sale at Bonhams



LONDON.- A rare jadeite double-square seal believed to have been an Imperial seal of the Jiaqing Emperor, taken from the Summer Palace during Britain’s second Opium War with China in 1860, and brought to Britain by Liverpool born medical missionary, William Lockhart, will be sold on May 12th in London at Bonhams auction of fine Chinese Art.

The seal which measures under an inch square, is estimated to sell for £40,000 to £60,000. It is being sold with William Lockhart’s fan which is printed with a map of China on one side and a map of Beijing on the other. The location of Lockhart’s hospital in Beijing is marked with an X.

The seal inscription reads Jiaqing Chen Han ('Jiaqing Emperor's Literary and Artistic Work') and Ji Xia Yi Qing ('When does one have the leisure to delight the heart?'

Asaph Hyman, a Specialist in Bonhams Chinese Art Department, says: “The provenance of the present seal, the presence of the missionary Lockhart in Beijing certainly in 1861 and possibly during the sacking of the Yuanming yuan by the Anglo-French forces, and his unequivocal support of the actions taken by the English, is important evidence in support of the present seal's Imperial origin. We hope this seal will return to China as did the Qianlong Emperor’s personal seal which sold for £2.7m last May in London”

William Lockhart was born on 3 October 1811 in Liverpool. He trained at the Meath Hospital, Dublin, and Guy's Hospital, London. Joining the London Missionary Society, he was appointed medical missionary to Canton and sailed on 31 July 1838. Following a trip home to England, Lockhart visited Peking and worked there from 1861 to 1864. He returned to England permanently in 1864 and retired in 1867. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the London Missionary Society from 1869 to 1870. He died on 29 April 1896.

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, British and French expeditionary forces marched inland from the coast and reached Beijing on September 29. Two envoys, Henry Loch and Harry Parkes went ahead of the main force under a flag of truce to negotiate with the Prince I at Tungchow. After a day of talks, they and their small escort of British and Indian troopers (including two British envoys and a journalist for The Times) were taken prisoner. They were taken to the Board of Punishments in Beijing where they were confined and tortured. Parkes and Loch were returned after two weeks, with fourteen other survivors. Twenty British, French and Indian captives died. On the night of October 6, French units diverted from the main attack force towards the Old Summer Palace.

In 1861 Lockhart published The Medical Missionary in China: A Narrative of Twenty Years' Experience’. In the book he writes of the incident in which the hostages were taken and tortured.

"On its being known that such cruelty had been inflicted on the victims of this treachery, and that the remaining captives were not given up, immediate steps were taken for the capture of Pekin, and finally one of the gates was surrendered to the allies. The city thus lay at the mercy of its captors without any further hostilities. The palace of the Yuen-ming-yuen was burned and destroyed by the English General on the 16th of October, as a punishment to the government for the perfidious cruelty towards the prisoners, and more especially as it was in that place that the barbarous treatment towards them commenced. This was one of the last acts of the expedition. It was wholly warranted by the occasion, and signally marks the indignation of the army against those who entrapped persons into their hands, and then cruelly tortured them to death. A money compensation was also demanded, on account both of the survivors and the relatives of those who had died."










Today's News

March 19, 2011

Experts from the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts Discover Rare Van Dyck

Sylvie Fleury Brings Luxury and Glamour to the Contemporary Art Center of Málaga

Regional Unrest Inspires Artists at Dubai's Four-Day Contemporary Art Show

Robert De Niro Testifies in Gallery Owner Lawrence Salander-Related Art Fraud Trial

Christie's in New York to Sell Photographs from the Consolidated Freightways Collection

Saatchi Online Revamped as Social Marketplace for the Discovery and Purchase of Art from Emerging Artists

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Presents Jeff Koons: Artist Rooms Exhibition

Saffronart Launches New Mobile Website; Offers Easy Mobile Access to Buyers of Art

Sonia Delaunay Textiles On View at Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

A Very Rare Rhinoceros Horn Cup From China, Sold at Hotel des Ventes in Geneva for a Record Price

Nest Egg's April 16 Auction Features Photographic Nudes, Fine Art and Cameras

A Collection of Gladys Knight's Dresses to Be Sold at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

Christie's Presents a Range of Luxury Items at Second Series of Elegance Sales

The American Institute of Architects Select 18 Recipients for the 2011 Housing Awards

Bidder Pays $460K for Roughly 8-Pound Gold Nugget

School of the Museum of Fine Arts Announces 16th Annual Medal Award Recipient

Bubble Trouble Spoils China's "Art Shares" Party

Appalachian Cultural Museum a Victim of Hard Times

Chinese Seal Believed to Be from Imperial Summer Palace Sacked in 1860, for Sale at Bonhams




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful