0044 The following three items – the first listed as jade; the other two as hardstone — were included in the catalogue of Capitaine Negroni’s collection of spoils from the Yuanmingyuan, exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1865.
35. A square seal, surmounted by a beautiful dragon, which is much lighter in colour than the base, and forms a pleasing contrast to it; the inscription is the old Mantchou character.
47. The Emperor’s official seal for death-warrants. A square piece of Oriental jasper with Chinese and Mantchou characters.
84. A square seal, with handle carved from the solid stone. This is a very beautiful object.
(See Catalogue of Captain de Negroni's Collection of Porcelain, Jade, Jewels, Silks, Furs, Stones, &c., from Yuen-Min-Yuen, (The Summer Palace) Pekin, London: McCorquodale & Co. 1865, pp. 17, 18, 20.) The collection was sold through Messrs. Foster in June 1866. (16 June 1866, Birmingham Gazette, p. 4.) [044 also listed under jade and hardstone respectively.]
中文:
1865 年 法国 军官 上尉 Negroni 在 水晶宫 展览了他 从 北京 圆明园 掠奪的物品。这个展览 包括 三 件 印 玺。 第一 (35) 件 是 玉；其它 (47, 84) 是 宝 石。
35. 一 个 方形 玺, 顶上 是 一 个 美观 龙, 它的颜色 比 基底 更 浅。这个 對比 是 賞心悅目的。印 文 是 古老 的 满人 文。
47. 皇帝 批准 死 刑 的 印 文：正式 极刑 拘票 玺。一 块 刻 有 汉语 和 满语 的方形 鸡血石
84. 一 件 方形 玺，刻 有 坚硬 的宝石 把手。 这 是 一 件 珍品。
一八六五 年 六月, 通过 Foster 先生们，Negroni 先生 拍卖 了 典藏。 (一八六六 年 六月 十六 日, Birmingham Gazette, 第四页。)
张小蕾和凯特 · 希尔（Kate Hill）
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0045 An Exhibition of Fine Arts at Brighton, Sussex County, opened on 24 June 1867 in the Brighton Pavilion. Mr. G. Dudell, a member of the organizing committee, lent a ‘Seal of Rock Crystal, in the form of a grotesque animal on a square pedestal, taken at the Summer Palace’. (Southern Counties’ Association Catalogue of Works of Art and Industry, Exhibited at the New Assembly Rooms, Royal Pavilion Grounds. Brighton, 1867, p. 83.) [0045 also listed under hardstone.]
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0172 In 1874 a volunteers’ bazaar was held at St. Leonards Assembly Room to defray costs of a drill shed for the St. Leonards Artillery Volunteers. A reporter noted the many appealing objects in the art exhibition, concluding:
‘Mr. Maclean’s collection, however, was the chief centre of attraction, he exhibiting some costly articles formerly belonging to the Emperor of China, and which were taken from the summer palace at Pekin. First and foremost came a splendid gold watch inlaid with diamonds, and valued at 2000 guineas, which was presented to the former Emperor of China by Napoleon I., a necklace of jaspar, as worn by a Mandarin of the highest class; two of the Emperor’s seals, an exquisitely carved rhinoceros’s horn, beautifully carved ivory book cover, and an Imperial quilt, formed of ivory shavings, and lined with royal damask.’ (24 October 1874, Hastings and St. Leonard Observer, p. 7.) [0172 also listed under jewelry, rhinoceros horn, ivory, and textiles.] 26 February 2016.
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All material on this page, unless otherwise credited, was produced by Kate Hill, who asserts her authorship of the work. © Kate Hill, Yuanmingyuan Artefact Index, 2016.