CHINA 1900 QING DYNASTY LARGE CARVED SEAL OF A RAMPANT DRAGON WITH TEXTURES
AN OVAL CHINESE SEAL WITH A DRAGON.
PRETTY IMPRESSIVE OVAL PIECE FROM THE QING DYNASTY (1644-1912) OF CHINA, CIRCA 1900'S. IS BEAUTIFULLY CARVED IN ONE SOLID PIECE WITH THE MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE OF A DRAGON.
THE CHINESE DRAGON, ALSO KNOWN AS LOONG, LONG OR LUNG, IS A LEGENDARY CREATURE IN CHINESE MYTHOLOGY, FOLKLORE AND CULTURE AT LARGE. CHINESE DRAGONS HAVE MANY ANIMAL-LIKE FORMS SUCH AS TURTLES AND FISH, BUT ARE MOST COMMONLY DEPICTED AS SNAKE-LIKE WITH FOUR LEGS. THEY TRADITIONALLY SYMBOLIZE POTENT AND AUSPICIOUS POWERS, PARTICULARLY CONTROL OVER WATER, RAINFALL, TYPHOONS, AND FLOODS.
THE DRAGON IS ALSO A SYMBOL OF POWER, STRENGTH, AND GOOD LUCK FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE WORTHY OF IT IN EAST ASIAN CULTURE. DURING THE DAYS OF IMPERIAL CHINA, THE EMPEROR OF CHINA USUALLY USED THE DRAGON AS A SYMBOL OF HIS IMPERIAL STRENGTH AND POWER. IN CHINESE CULTURE, EXCELLENT AND OUTSTANDING PEOPLE ARE COMPARED TO A DRAGON, WHILE INCAPABLE PEOPLE WITH NO ACHIEVEMENTS ARE COMPARED TO OTHER, DISESTEEMED CREATURES, SUCH AS A WORM. A NUMBER OF CHINESE PROVERBS AND IDIOMS EATURE REFERENCES TO A DRAGON, SUCH AS "HOPING ONE'S CHILD WILL BECOME A DRAGON".
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was the Manchu-led last dynasty in the imperial history of China. It was proclaimed in 1636 in Manchuria (modern-day Northeast China), in 1644 entered Beijing, extended its rule to cover all of China proper, and then extended the empire into Central Asia. The dynasty lasted until 1912. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The multiethnic Qing empire lasted for almost three centuries and assembled the territorial base for modern China. It was the largest Chinese dynasty and in 1790 the fourth largest empire in world history in terms of territorial size. With a population of 432 million in 1912, it was the world's most populous country at the time.
Qing Dynasty decorative arts, many craftsmen worked in the imperial court, producing artifacts for palace use: everything from items of jewelry art to beautiful Chinese lacquerware, including lacquered imperial thrones: see, for instance, the Qing Dynasty Imperial Throne (1775-80, Victoria and Albert Museum, London). The Imperial Household Department managed a number of crafts workshops both within the Forbidden City and outside it. Some of the skilled workers and master craftsmen were on permanent duty, like those in the imperial glass factory established in 1696 under the direction of the German Jesuit Kilian Stumpf (1655-1720). Other experts in gemstones carving, horn and jade sculpture and metallurgy were summoned to Beijing for a specific period of service.
PRETTY LARGE WITH A WEIGHT OF 191.4 Grams AND A MEASURES OF 63.5 mm BY 76.2 mm BY 56 mm (2.5 x 3 X 2.2 Inches).
IT IS IN PERFECT CONDITION WITH ALL THE ORIGINAL AGED PATINA INTACT.
INVENTORY REF: P0000ANNF/.1111
