QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
HEIGHT: 7.6CM
WEIGHT: 93.5G
The seal is of rectangular section, with the flat top crisply carved
with two archaistic kui dragons, their bodies depicted in angular
scrolls enclosing a Shangjun mark 尚均 in archaic script. The upper
edge of the seal is bordered by a continuous frieze of keyfret. The
seal face reads Hang Wude 杭武德 (“Hang of Martial Virtue’’). The
stone is of an even translucent white tone. The fitted box and cover
is made of buffalo horn.
Hang 杭 is a surname which transcribes to ‘Van’, referring to the
British naval officer Edward Westby Vansittart (1818-1904). The two
characters Wude 武德 express reverence to him who would possess
martial virtue.
The top of the seal is carved with a Shangjun 尚均 mark, which is
the personal name (zi 字) of Zhou Bin 周彬, a revered soapstone
carver active in the Kangxi period. A pair of white jade seals, also
bearing Shangjun marks and attributed to Zhou Bin, is illustrated in
Arts from the Scholar’s Studio , Hong Kong, 1986, pp. 84-85
Catalogue No. 43.
PROVENANCE
Edward Westby Vansittart (1818-1904), England
| 清 | 尚均款壽山石夔龍紋長方印 |
| 印文：杭武德 |
