Seals: jade; stand: wood, possibly zitan; box: wood, possibly zitan, with semiprecious stone, mother-of-pearl, silver, and gold inlay
Dimensions:
H x Diam (a: seal): 3.6 x 3.8 cm (1 7/16 x 1 1/2 in)
H x Diam (c:seal): 3.4 × 3.5 cm (1 5/16 × 1 3/8 in)
H x W x D (e & f:assembled): 9 × 13 × 7.8 cm (3 9/16 × 5 1/8 × 3 1/16 in)
Type:
Tool and Equipment
Origin:
China
Date:
ca. 1780
Period:
Qing dynasty, Qianlong reign
Provenance:
About 1780
Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799; reigned 1735-1796), about 1780 [1]
Puyi (1906-1967; reigned 1908-1912), Emperor of China [2]
To 1945
Puxiu, relative of Puyi, by descent, to 1945 [3]
From 1945 to 1978
Private collection, Washington, DC, acquired from Puxiu in 1945 [4]
From 1978
Freer Gallery of Art, given by a private collector in 1978 [5]
Notes:
[1] The objects were probably made for Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799; reigned 1735-1796), circa 1780 (see Curatorial Notes 3, 4, and 5, Jan Stuart, 1991-1995, in object record).
[2] The donor acquired the objects in 1945 from Puxiu, a relative of Puyi (1906-1967; reigned 1908-1912), the last emperor of the Qing dynasty. According to Puxiu, the seals and the covered box had belonged to the Qing emperor, Puyi (see Curatorial Note 2, T. Lawton, 1979, in object record).
[3] See note 2.
[4] See note 2.
[5] The object was transferred from the Freer Study Collection to the Freer Permanent Collection, on March 3, 1978 (see Curatorial Note 9 in the object record).
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Old Tales Retold: Narrative in Chinese Painting (April 20 to October 20, 2013)
Beyond Paper: Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (August 18, 1994 to July 3, 1997)
Chinese Art (May 9 to November 29, 1993)
Previous custodian or owner:
Hongli, the Qianlong emperor 乾隆帝 (1711-1799)
Puyi, Emperor of China (1906-1967, reigned 1908-1912)
