Lot 200 南明永歷五年（1651）銅虎鈕武安將軍印 | A RARE BRONZE SEAL OF GENERAL WU'AN

南明永歷五年（1651）銅虎鈕武安將軍印 | A RARE BRONZE SEAL OF GENERAL WU'AN

Dated the fifth year of the Yongli period corresponding to 1651 and of the period

GBP 3,000

GBP 3000 - 5000

未知

未知

Dated the fifth year of the Yongli period corresponding to 1651 and of the period
Cast as a tiger seated on its haunches atop a stepped square plinth, the animal with an alert head raised upward and a tail curling to the left of the body, detailed with bulging eyes, a ruyi-shaped nose, and incised stripe markings across the body, each side of the seal top incised with an inscription, the underside cast with six characters in seal script. 9.5cm (3 3/4in) high.
Footnotes
南明永歷五年（1651）銅虎鈕武安將軍印
印文：「武安將軍之印」
款識：「永歷伍年九月☐日」「禮部造」「武安將軍之印」「永字四十八號」
The inscription on the seal face may be translated as: Seal of the General of Wu'an.
The inscriptions on the top of the seal may be translated as: Fifth year of the Yongli reign, ninth month, [day illegible]; Manufactured by the Ministry of Rites; Seal of the General Wu'an; Yong, number forty-eight.
The present seal bears exceptional historical significance as a tangible witness to the history of the Southern Ming and to the loyalty and achievement of Cao Daquan 曹大銓, General of Wu'an, who died in the resistance against the Qing dynasty.
From the inscriptions, we can tell that this seal, issued for the General of Wu'an (武安將軍, General of Military Pacification), was cast in the fifth year of the reign of the Yongli Emperor, Zhu Youlang 朱由榔 (1623-1662). In 1644, after Li Zicheng captured Beijing, the Ming dynasty lost control of northern China. The Southern Ming regime, a regional regime that continued the Ming dynasty's rule in the south, extended its activities across an extensive area in the south. Zhu Youlang, the Prince of Gui, was enthroned as Emperor in 1646 at Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, under the support of Qu Shisi 瞿式耜 and Ding Kuichu 丁魁楚, adopting the reign title Yongli.
The owner of the present seal is believed to be Cao Daquan. According to the (貴池縣志), Cao Daquan, courtesy name Wenlun, was a cousin of Cao Dagao. At the time, Dagao served Zhu Youlang as Grand General and held the seal of a marquis. Cao Daquan joined Dagao's camp and, in recognition of his merits, was appointed Vice-General. He was subsequently promoted to commander-in-chief and invested with the seal of the General of Wu'an. Later, he was appointed as Vice Commissioner of Surveillance for Jiangxi. In the eighth year of the Shunzhi reign (1651), he led troops out of Jiangxi to join the allied forces. While suffering from illness, Daquan was captured and taken to Zhangjiang, where he refused to submit and was put to death.
Cao Daquan's loyalty is further commemorated in the elegy composed for him by Cao Dagao, 'A Eulogy for the Third Elder Brother, General Wu'an, Wenlun' (吊武安將軍文掄三兄), which reads: (吾兄頸血濺章江，白日風瓢俠骨香，假使夷齊俱喪節，空令薇蕨哭山陽). See Cao Dagao, 'Huabi lu' (化碧錄), in (明別集叢刊), Series 5, vol.59, Hefei, 2015, p.245.
See a related bronze seal of the General Pingdong (平東將軍, General of Pacifying the East), dated to the sixth year of the Yongli reign (1652), excavated in Yulin, Guangxi Province, now in the collection of Yulin Museum, illustrated and examined by Yu Fengzhi 于鳳芝, 'A Study of the Seal of the General Pingdong' (平東將軍之印考), (南方文物), 1999(2), pp.49-52.