A rare jadeite double-square seal from an Imperial Palace in Beijing and with an Irish link features at Bonhams auction of Chinese art in London on May 12. It is believed to have been an Imperial seal of the Jiaqing Emperor and was taken from the Summer Palace during Britain’s second Opium War with China in 1860.It was brought to Britain by Liverpool born medical missionary William Lockhart who trained at the Meath Hospital, Dublin, and Guy’s Hospital, London before going to China in 1838. He worked in Peking from 1861 to 1864. The seal is being sold with William Lockhart’s fan which is printed with a map of China on one side and a map of Beijing on the other. The location of Lockhart’s hospital in Beijing is marked with an X.
The seal measures under an inch square and is estimated to sell for £40,000 to £60,000. The seal inscription reads Jiaqing Chen Han (‘Jiaqing Emperor’s Literary and Artistic Work’) and Ji Xia Yi Qing (‘When does one have the leisure to delight the heart?’ Bonhams hope this seal will return to China as did the Qianlong Emperor’s personal seal which sold for £2.7m last May in London”