Qing Dynasty Boxwood Square Seal with Triple Chi Dragon Knob,17th–19th Century

拍品描述

Measurements:Overall height 13.5 cm / 5.31 inches, seal face side length 9.8 cm / 3.86 inches, total weight 720 grams, Qing Dynasty, Category: Wood Carving Curios, Primary trading market: New YorkCondition & Provenance:The entire seal is carved from one solid piece of premium boxwood, no splicing, wood patches or moth-eaten decay. The square base is perfectly straight with fine tight wood grain, covered in thick reddish-brown antique patina built over centuries of handling. The seal face deep seal script remains crisp and legible; only one faint natural wood fissure runs across the stamp surface, an original mineral grain split with no traumatic cracks or restoration fills. The top knob is fully openwork carved with three interplaying chi dragons, featuring fluid dynamic postures layered upon swirling cloud groundwork. All fine carved details including facial features, curled manes and sharp claws are fully intact, no chips, broken edges or repaired abrasions. Fine aged dust accumulates deep within the hollowed carvings; no modern heavy polishing or refinishing was ever performed, fully retaining untouched original antique surface patina. This seal originated from a southern Chinese literati collection, consigned at the 2015 Vancouver Asian Antique Fair, then acquired in 2019 by a private scholar’s desk collector based in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It has been preserved long-term in temperature and humidity controlled storage, only lightly cleaned with dry soft brushes. No artificial wax coating, dyeing or fake patina treatment has been applied, fully original with no disassembly or restoration.Object Description:This large square boxwood seal with triple openwork chi dragon knob represents a top-tier imperial-style scholar’s desk carving from the Qing Dynasty, a rare intact large wooden imperial seal highly coveted by overseas antique stationery collectors. Carved from a single solid block of boxwood, the timber is dense and fine-grained with a deep warm red tone, polished over hundreds of years of hand contact to develop translucent glossy inherited patina. The square plinth is flat and uniform, the stamp face deeply incised with nine-fold seal script reading “Treasure of the Son of Heaven”, rendered with steady, even carving strokes characteristic of official Qing imperial seal carving standards. The top employs elaborate deep openwork carving for three intertwined playful chi dragons, twisting and coiling dynamically with raised heads, curled manes and sharp defined claws, set atop rolling swirling cloud motifs. Deep layered hollow carving delivers exceptional three-dimensional depth, demonstrating the masterful high-relief wood carving craftsmanship of the Qing period. Chi dragon motifs have long symbolize warding off evil and attracting auspicious fortune in Chinese art; three gathered chi dragons further carry the auspicious meaning of triple blessings and prosperity. Boxwood grows extremely slowly, so large single-piece timber for full-size imperial seals is exceedingly scarce. Openwork multi-dragon knobs carry extreme production difficulty and are highly prone to chipping and breakage over time. This specimen survives fully intact, carved from one unbroken timber block with untouched ancient patina, delivering irreplaceable functional desk utility, academic reference value for antique wood carving techniques, and strong rare collectible appeal, consistently sought after by dedicated scholar’s artifact collectors in New York and Pennsylvania.

图片