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Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg)
Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg)
Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_SL1.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_SL1.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_transp4564.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_transp4564.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail4_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail4_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side2_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side2_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail2_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail2_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail1_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail1_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side3_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side3_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side4_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side4_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail3_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_detail3_PS9.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_view2_SL4.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_view2_SL4.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_view3_SL4.jpg)

Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_view3_SL4.jpg)

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Tianhuang Seal

Qian Song

Asian Art

On View: Asian Galleries, West, 2nd floor (China)
This seal is one of the great treasures of the Brooklyn Museum’s Chinese collection. It is carved in the form of a mountain cliff; the seal-carver exploited the dark natural veins in the stone to create the landscape. Beneath the waterfall is a tiny boat carrying the early-eleventh-century poet Su Shi past the Red Cliff. Su Shi’s prose poem recording his trip is famous in classical Chinese literature. On the bottom of the seal, Qian Song (1807–1860), one of the most influential scholar seal-carvers of the Qing dynasty, engraved the name of a studio for one of his associates, a man named Chunru, who would have impressed the bottom of the seal in red seal-paste on works of painting and calligraphy in his studio.
ARTIST Qian Song, Chinese, 1807–1860
MEDIUM Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone
  • Place Made: China
    • DATES first half 19th century
    DYNASTY Qing Dynasty
    PERIOD Qing Dynasty
    DIMENSIONS 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1996.122
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION A seal of rich reddish amber color, carved in the form of a mountain cliff, with Su Dong-po and his friend in a boat sailing beneath a waterfall, one side with a colophon. Seal inscription carved by Chien Song (1807-1860). Signed Shu Kai. Artist from Hangchou, Chekiang province, and is a specialist in seal carving as well as a calligrapher and painter. His reputation for seal carving was second only to Ting Chin (1695-1765) and Huang I (1744-1802) the two greatest seal carvers of the Ch'ing Dynasty. The subject of the carving is Su Dong-po's visit to the Red Cliff and the carver of the landscape scene is Ching chuan (who may also be known as Yang I, who was a calligrapher and seal carver of the Ch'ing Dynasty. This information was given by Er-lu Wu, Assistant to R.H. Ellsworth. Condition: Excellent
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, West, 2nd floor (China)
    CAPTION Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). Tianhuang Seal, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg)
    IMAGE profile, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Qian Song (Chinese, 1807–1860). <em>Tianhuang Seal</em>, first half 19th century. Tianhuang (heavenly yellow) stone, 3 3/4 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (9.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection, 1996.122. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.122_side1_PS9.jpg)

    TAGS

    Seal
    Chinese
    Song
    curious
    shiny
    carved
    glossy
    stone
    Asian Art
    China
    Art
    carmel
    boat
    Su Shi
    Red Cliff
    landscape
    Ode to Red Cliff
    soapstone
    inscriptions
    Qian Song

    TAGS

    Seal
    Chinese
    Song
    curious
    shiny
    carved
    glossy
    stone
    Asian Art
    China
    Art
    carmel
    boat
    Su Shi
    Red Cliff
    landscape
    Ode to Red Cliff
    soapstone
    inscriptions
    Qian Song

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