Lot 187
TWO CHINESE SOAPSTONE 'BUDDHIST LION' SEALS
ATTRIBUTED TO XU SHICHANG (1854-1939), LATE QING DYNASTY TO REPUBLIC PERIOD, 19TH-20TH CENTURY
Auction: 07 November 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清末民初 徐世昌款 壽山石雕佛獅鈕方印（共兩件）帶錦盒
印文：徐世昌印；鞠人
each seal of square form, carved with mirrored Buddhist lion in recumbent position as finial, the seal face carved with four-character Xu Shi Chang Yin (seal of Xu Shichang) and a two-character Ju Ren, with a fitted cloth box (2)
Dimensions
4.1cm high each
Provenance
Acquired from the London Art market
購自倫敦藝術市場
Footnote
Xu Shichang (1854-1939), courtesy name Buwu, also known as Juren, Donghai, and Taozhai, was a native of Tianjin. He achieved jinshi in the 12th year of the Guangxu reign (1886) and served as Grand Councillor in 1905. In March 1916, Yuan Shikai was forced to abolish the monarchy and appointed him Secretary of State. In October 1918, Xu Shichang was elected President of the Republic of China by Congress. He ordered a ceasefire with the South and convened a peace conference the following year. In June 1922, he telegraphed his resignation and retired to the Tianjin Concession, where he devoted himself to painting and calligraphy.
Xu Shichang possessed a profound foundation in Chinese studies, not only writing books and essays but also cultivating calligraphy. His landscapes were elegant and graceful. He followed the style of Su Shi, but modified it slightly. A skilled poet, he founded the Wanqing Ting Poetry Society, recruited fellow poets, and compiled a collection of Qing Dynasty poems. There is a collection of poems inscribed on paintings in Guiyun Tower, which was completed in 1924. He edited and engraved more than 30 books in his lifetime and was later called the ‘President of Literature and Administration’.
徐世昌（1854-1939），字卜五，號菊人，亦作鞠人，又號東海、弢齋，天津人。 光緒十二年（1886）進士，光緒三十一年（1905年）曾任軍機大臣。民國五年（1916年）3月袁世凱被迫取消帝制，起用他為國務卿。民國七年（1918年）10月，徐世昌被國會選為民國大總統。他下令對南方停戰，次年召開議和會議。民國十一年（1922年）6月通電辭職，退隱天津租界以書畫自娛。
徐世昌國學功底深厚，不但著書立言，而且研習書法。工山水，頗清秀。書宗蘇軾，略變其體。能詩，設晚晴簃詩社，羅致詩友，編印清詩匯。有歸雲樓題畫詩集，成於1924年。 一生編書、刻書30余種，被後人稱為“文治總統”。