Emperor Qianlong's jade seal to auction in London

London Sotheby's will hold an auction of Chinese porcelain and crafts on November 4, 2009. It will include more than 250 treasures, among them Emperor Qianlong's jade seal is the most noticeable. It was made to celebrate Emperor Qianlong's 80th birthday in 1790 and is valued at 400,000 to 600,000 Pounds (640,000 to 960,000 U.S. dollars).

1790, the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign was the Emperor's 80th birthday

In accordance with traditional practice, every fifth year was very important for the Emperor and it must be celebrated. For Qianlong, his fifty-fifth year as Emperor fell on his 80th birthday, so making a jade seal was a basic necessity of the grand celebrations.

Guo Fuxiang, researcher at the Beijing Palace Museum pointed out that the material texture of this jade seal was pretty good and the artistic carving was exceedingly fine, which was very representative of the unique style and standard of arts in the Qianlong period.

By People's Daily Online