Auction - Bonhams to auction Imperial jade seal

A stunning piece of China’s Imperial history – a seal personally commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) - will be the highlight of Bonhams Sale of Fine Chinese Art on November 11th in London. The four centimeter square jade seal bearing the inscription `Zi Qiang Bu Xi’, (‘Self-Strengthening Never Ceases’) is closely linked to the Emperor’s 80th birthday celebration which coincided with the 55th year of his reign and is an iconic reminder of China’s golden age. The seal would have originally been one in a set of three jade seals, used to make impressions at the right or left corner of calligraphy artworks. The imprints of all three seals are in the Qianlong Baosou collection in the Beijing Palace Museum.