清康熙 田黃太平景象鈕章 （39克）清康熙 田黃太平景象鈕章 （39克）1 3⁄4 in. (4.5 cm.) high, 39g, cloth boxDetails A RARE TIANHUANG ‘ELEPHANT AND BOY’ OVAL SEALKANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)The finial is finely carved as a recumbent elephant with finely incised markings to indicate its hide, by its side a foreigner wearing a jacket and pantaloons stands with one foot resting on the elephant’s trunk as he hands an object to another similarly dressed figure sprawled beside a hooked staff atop a patterned blanket draped over the elephant’s back, with the two-character signature, Shangjun, incorporated in the narrow band of interlocking C-scrolls at the top of the oval block, which is later-inscribed on one side, Kugong shu Kutie (Kugong requested Kutie [to carve the seal face]), the seal face reading: pi qin (infatuated with the qin), the stone of mottled pale caramel colour.1 3⁄4 in. (4.5 cm.) high, 39g, cloth box Provenance The Xu Hanqing CollectionSold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2011, lot 932品相: The present seal is accompanied by a cloth box bearing the inscriptions of the collector Xu Hanqing. Inscriptions on the cover of the box and the interior of the cover state that the seal finial was carved by Shangjun ‘from cold tianhuang stone’; that Kutie refers to Wu Changshou (1844-1927); and that Kugong refers to Duan Fang (1861-1911).Shangjun is the style name of Zhou Bin, a native of Zhangzhou in Fujian. He was active in the Kangxi era and was deemed “the foremost knob-carver of early Qing.” His works were known for their distinctive character, exaggerated representation and unique shape, and were often mentioned in the notes of Qing scholars.Wu Changshuo was a central figure in Chinese painting during the early years of the 20th century. He was known for his calligraphic work and seals, which were famous for their elegance. His style of carving was known as the ‘Wu style’. In 1904, he became the first director of the Xiling Seal Carving Society, an organization in Hangzhou dedicated to studying seal carving.Duan Fang, pseudonym Tao Zhai, was a late Qing dynasty government official who amassed an extraordinary collection of Chinese art. Known as the Taozhai Collection, it included Neolithic jades, Shang and Zhou dynasty bronzes, landscape paintings and Buddhist sculpture. In 1909, he published Taozhai jijin xulu, the first catalogue to use the photolithographic process to print rubbings of bronzes.The present seal was in the collection of the Republic-period businessman and collector Xu Hanqing. Xu Hanqing, originally named Fubing and a native of Yancheng in Jiangsu, was born in Shandong province in 1882. He became a successful national banker of great means, as well as a renowned collector. His collection was particularly rich in Chinese paintings, rubbings of Chinese calligraphy, coins and currency.