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CHRISTOPHE JORON-DEREM
114
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CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736-1795)
Square celadon nephrite …
See original version (French)
114
-
CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736-1795)
Square celadon nephrite …
See original version (French)
Estimate €50,000 - €60,000
Voluntary lot
Description
CHINA - QIANLONG period (1736-1795)
Square celadon nephrite seal with brown vein surmounted by a reclining chilong.
On the reverse, the inscription in Zhuanshu: Lian hua shi (蓮華室) : Lotus pavilion (Accidents)
Dim. 3,2 x 3,2 x 3,6 cm
Prior registration with the auction house is required in order to bid. [NO LIVE ON THIS LOT]
Please register with the auction house to bid. [NO LIVE ON THIS LOT]
請提前與本公司負責人聯繫，辦理相關競投手續。
PROVENANCE:
- Pierre PLAS Collection;
- Collection Jacques and Charlotte PLAS by devolution of the estate of the former.
NOTE :
The culture of stamps in China flourished under the Ming and Qing dynasties. Chinese seals can be divided into two main categories: on the one hand, official or personal identification and signature seals, such as State seals, imperial seals, those of empresses and concubines, and administrative seals; on the other hand, pleasure seals, which bear neither name nor official title, but verses wishing good fortune or expressing a state of mind, an aspiration or a literary taste. These are known as "free stamps" (xian zhang). In the Ming and Qing eras, their development was greatly helped by economic prosperity and the boom in the art of engraving seals.
Of the twelve emperors of the Qing dynasty, Emperor Qianlong was undoubtedly the greatest connoisseur of this art. He owned both the largest number of stamps and those of the highest quality. It is estimated that he owned more than 1,800, of which around 700 have now disappeared, while a thousand are kept in the Forbidden City Museum. Imperial stamps come in a variety of shapes
shapes - square, round, rectangular or oval - and are made from a wide variety of materials: nephrite, wood, gold, silver, bronze or precious stones.
Carved from celadon nephrite, the "Lian hua shi" (Lotus Pavilion) seal bears witness to the particular prestige accorded to nephrite in the manufacture of imperial seals, a tradition dating back to Qin Shi Huang, founder of the first unified Chinese empire. During the Qing dynasty, the majority of imperial seals were made in white or celadon nephrite.
The Lotus Pavilion, to which this stamp refers, is located in the Chengde Mountain Residence (Jehol). Located on the west side of the second floor of the Yunshan Shengdi Palace, this Buddhist hall houses a statue of Guanyin carved in green nephrite. Every year, on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Qianlong emperor came here to admire the moon. Thanks to its dominant position and vast panorama, the site offers an unobstructed view of the surrounding lakes and mountains, making it the best place in the entire residence to contemplate the moon. Imperial empresses and concubines also came here to pray for blessings and happiness.
During his sixty-year reign, the Qianlong emperor spent forty-eight summers at the Chengde Mountain Residence, usually leaving Beijing at the beginning of July and not returning until late September or early October. He celebrated forty-three mid-autumn festivals there. As his birthday fell just two days before this festival, this period had a particularly happy and festive significance for him.
Deeply attached to this place, the Qianlong emperor composed more than a dozen poems dedicated to the Lotus Pavilion. The most famous, entitled Poem to the Lotus Pavilion, evokes the spiritual serenity of the site: "Amidst the mountains and clouds of the Chengde Mountain Residence rises a high pavilion, while the Lotus Pavilion seems even higher. Faced with the moon reflected in the water and the moon suspended in the sky, the emperor meditates on the eternity of time and the permanence of the seasons. Freed from the preoccupations of the secular world, he also expresses his gratitude to the benevolent protection of his ancestors".
The Lotus Pavilion remains one of the most romantic, poetic and Buddhist-spiritual places in the entire Chengde Mountain Residence.
中國印章文化發展至明清，進入了前所未有的鼎盛時期，文人在藝術創作時無不追求書畫印的有機結合，以臻完美之境。 清代帝王大量精美的印璽，即為當時社會印章文化的反映。
有清一代，除國璽之外，數量最多者為帝王們平日鈐諸於書畫上的各式閑章，其種類繁多、包羅萬象，若以璽文內容分類，這方 "蓮華室 "青玉璽當為乾隆朝宮殿璽。 宮殿璽肇始於唐宋文士的室名章，至明清已蔚然成風，士人多有齋堂館閣之印，清代帝王大量精美的宮殿璽，即為當時社會文士好治堂名章這一風尚的直接反映。
清代十二位君主中，無論質量數量，均以乾隆印璽為最。 乾隆帝一生製作寶璽共1800余方，故宮現存乾隆印璽實物1000余方，佚失700余方，乾隆常用印章約500余方。 乾隆印璽有大、中、小、方、圓等不同形制及篆法，有白玉、青玉、碧玉、壽山石、昌化石、青田石、木、金、印、銅、各種寶石等20余種材質。
蓮華室位於承德避暑山莊，是每年中秋乾隆帝及其後妃登臨賞月之處。 此地居高臨下、視野開闊，湖光山色盡收眼底，正如乾隆御制詩《題蓮華室》所言："雲山勝地聳高樓，靜室蓮花樓上頭"，是整座山莊最佳的賞月所在。
乾隆帝在位六十年，共有四十八年在避暑山莊度夏（通常於七月初離京，九月底或十月初返回），並在此度過了四十三個中秋節。 尤其乾隆的生日，普天同慶、萬方朝賀的萬壽節恰在中秋節前兩日，這使得中秋節在
他個人生活和政治象徵中，無疑具有特別吉祥美好的寓意。
蓮華室至今猶存，位於避暑山莊「雲山勝地」二樓西側，原為一間佛堂，室內供奉一尊青玉觀音像。 每年中秋節，後妃都會在此拜月祈福，乾隆帝本人亦曾多次為蓮華室題詠。正如他在《題蓮華室》詩中所寫："憑參水月還天月，如是今秋即昔秋。一切塵心茲凈掃，不忘兩字祖恩留。"蓮華室不僅是避暑山莊中重要的觀景樓閣，亦是融合了宮廷禮儀、宗教信仰與詩意表達的獨特空間，是清代皇家園林審美趣味與帝王精神世界的絕佳體現。
A native of Tulle, Pierre PLAS, born in 1903, married with 4 children, made a career as an officer in the French army.
During the Second World War, he received numerous commendations and decorations: croix de guerre avec palme, commendation after the Dunkirk campaign, commendation for his action in the Battle of Tunisia, commendation and croix de guerre with vermeil cross for the landing of his regiment under his command from Elba Island to Württemberg. He then took part in the war against the Japanese alongside the Americans in Indochina.
In 1948, he retired with the rank of colonel and founded his own publishing house in Paris.
A great scholar, he assembled a collection of rare books and built up a library of 10,000 volumes.
Nostalgic for his years spent in the Far East and Africa, he collected Chinese jades and ivories, Orientalist paintings, Syrian furniture, objects and carpets. He also collects old northern paintings.
He died on 27 October 1978.
Christophe JORON-DEREM sold part of his collection by descent at Hôtel Drouot. (Collection Jacques and Charlotte PLAS by descent).
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Books & Manuscripts, Silverware, Asian Art, Jewellery, Watches & Clocks, Works on paper & Antique Paintings, Furniture & Works of Art
Auction location
Auction time
06/16/2026 at 11:00 AM
Pictures modified on 05/28/2026 at 5:37 PM
Lot description modified on 06/09/2026 at 4:32 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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