Rare et important cachet en stéatite. Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Daoguang (1821-1850)

Rare et important cachet en stéatite. Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Daoguang (1821-1850). Photo: Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

De forme carrée, la face portant une inscription à quatre caractères Daoguang zhi bao ('Grand Sceau de l'ère Daoguang'), le bouton formé d'un dragon menaçant de style archaïque, entouré de ses deux petits ; petits éclats. Dimensions: 5,3 x 6,4 x 6,4 cm. (2 1/8 x 2½ x 2½ in.). Estimate €40,000 - €60,000 ($58,591 - $87,886). Price Realized €589,000 ($862,746)

Provenance: From the collection of Mathieu-Justin Sabail (1834-1870) and then by descent to the present owner, a member of a family from the south of France.
According to written records of the French National Military Archives, Mathieu-Justin Sabail, was a student at the Saint-Cyr military school from 1854 to 1856 which years are known as 'Crimée-Sébastopol'. He became a lieutenant in the French light infantry on May 24th 1859. Slightly later he left for China where he joined in December 1859 the French military troops under the command of General Charles Cousin-Mautauban. This famous general was later made Count of Palikao by Napoléon III. The French joined the English in April 1860 in their campaign against the Chinese which is known as the Second Opium War (1856 to 1860). The victory of the Anglo-French troops led to the Convention of Peking on October 24th 1860 which not only ended the conflict but forced China to legalize the opium trade. Hereafter the 2nd battalion of the light infantry to which lieutenant Sabail belonged joined Baron Antoine Gros and his men to Beijing from October 25th to November 1st 1860.
After his successful Chinese years Mathieu-Justin Sabail was appointed Captain on September 8th 1861 and left for Indo-China where he stayed until 1862. On July 4th 1866, he joined the French military expedition to Mexico.
Some years later, he returned to France where he was killed in the line of duty near Sedan in France, on 3rd December 1870, shortly after Napoleon III was deposed and captured, ending the Second French Empire.

Notes: Compare with another Daoguang sealmark although of slightly smaller size carved intaglio, listed in Qingdai dihou xiyin pu ('An Album of Impressions of the Qing dynasty Rulers and Empresses' seals'), vol.10, p. 21a

Christie's. Art d'Asie, 7 June 2011, Paris www.christies.com