IVORY
0050 In the summer of 1861 the following advertisement appeared:
‘On sale.— Mr. J. J. Hall, of 28 London-road, has two very valuable and singularly curious CHINESE PICTURES. The subjects are architecture, with numerous figures, all worked in ivory most exquisitely carved. These pictures were taken from the Emperor’s Summer Palace, near Pekin, on the 19th of October, 1860, a few days before it was set on fire by the allied Powers. It is seldom indeed that pictures of this class can be met with. In addition to which the historical associations connected with them add considerably to their intrinsic value’. (9 July 1861, The Liverpool Daily Post, p. 7.)
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0049 The following six items were included in the catalogue of Capitaine Negroni’s collection of spoils from the Yuanmingyuan, exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1865:
p. 41
381. An imperial junk in the form of a bird, beatifully carved in ivory. A wonderful specimen of patience and skill. It was found, with a fellow one, placed on a bracket in the boudoir of the Empress.
382. An elephant in coloured ivory. The animal is caparisoned in the Chinese fashion, and is of extraordinary beauty and antiquity.
p. 42
392. A statuette in stained ivory.
393. do. do. do.
394. A group carved in relief.
395. A group, in relief, of stained ivory.
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. 41, 42.) The collection was sold through Messrs. Foster in June 1866. (16 June 1866, Birmingham Gazette, p. 4.)
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0011 A review of an 1866 conversazione at the Rotherham Literary and Scientific Society held in the Mechanics' Hall, stated: ‘At one of the centre tables, a small portion of the spoils of the Summer Palace at Pekin was shown in the shape of two superb sets of ivory chessmen.’ (9 May 1866, Sheffield Independent, p. 3.)
中文:
1861 年 在 工 人 的 会 堂，Rotherham 文学 和 科学 学会 展览 开场了 「其中 有 小数量 出自 北京 圆明园 的 战利品 。 其中 展品 有 两 套 极好 的 象牙 棋。」 (一八六六年 五月 九日, Sheffield Independent, 第三页。)
张小蕾和凯特 · 希尔（Kate Hill）
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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, seals and textiles.] 26 February 2016.
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0233 Messrs. J.R. Mallam and Son advertised the sale of Rev. Thomas Prater’s collection at the Town Hall, Oxford, which included ‘beautiful IVORIES (from the looting of the Summer Palace, France.)’ (15 October 1892, Oxford Journal, p. 4.) [editor: this may be a typographical error. Possibly, the text should have run ‘from the looting of the Summer Palace by the French’. The French were often blamed for the looting in late-19th-century British newspapers.] 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.