The largest seal ever used by an emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and recently retrieved from overseas sold for 6 million yuan (US$726,000) at a spring auction in Beijing on Saturday.
Bidding for the seals, which were said to have been used by Emperor Kang Xi, the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, began at 1.6 million yuan (US$194,000), but soared to a final price of 6 million yuan, hitting a record high for the auction of an imperial seal.
A spokesperson for the auctioneer, Huachen, said the seal, with a carved surface measuring 9.5 centimeters square, was retrieved from a United States collector and sold to a Chinese buyer who declined to be identified.
Kang Xi's seals were first auctioned last spring in China at a price of 3.55 million yuan (US$430,000). Another set of 12 of the emperor's seals sold for HK$19 million in a Hong Kong auction.
A Chinese emperor's seals were regarded as a symbol of their power.
Records show that Emperor Kang Xi had 120 seals. Most of them were lost in Europe after allied forces looted Beijing in 1900.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2003)
