A group of seven soapstone sealsQing Dynasty
Comprising: three seals of square section, each surmounted by a crouching mythical beast, one seal face carved with an eight-character inscription reading si qi li zhi you suo bu ji, with the side incised with three characters Ziruo ke, the second seal face carved with a three-character inscription reading Ke Dao ren, and the third seal with the side incised with six characters Yutian zhu Ziruo ke; two seals of oval section, each carved to the top with a phoenix, each seal face inscribed with three characters tian zi mian, the larger with an incised inscription on the side reading Shangjun; and two seals of square section surmounted by a mandarin duck, the larger seal face carved with a three-character inscription reading Di Hui Tang and Lin Xiu and the smaller with Jiren, box. The largest, 3.6cm (1 1/2in) high (8).注脚清 壽山石雕動物鈕印一組

Provenance:
Sir Ian Malcolm, 17th Laird of Poltalloch, KCMG (1868-1944), and thence by descent

Poltalloch House, Argyll, Scotland was a large Victorian mansion built between 1849 and 1853 and was formerly the seat of the Malcolms of Poltalloch until the roof was removed in 1957. The house is now a ruin. Sir Ian was an avid collector and as a politician and diplomat he travelled extensively, particularly in the early 20th century. Although there is no record of him being in China, he was in British India in 1901-1902 and accompanied Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India on his tour of Burma in 1901.

來源：
第十七世波多羅克勛爵Ian Malcolm爵士（1868-1944）舊藏，現藏家得自其後人

波多羅克府邸位於蘇格蘭阿蓋爾，建於1849年至1853年間，為規模宏大的維多利亞風格大宅。二十世紀初期大宅露台垮塌之前，一直為Malcolm家族的鄉村別墅。今日府邸已成一片廢墟。Malcolm爵士是20世紀初期活躍的收藏家，政客和外交官。雖然沒有記錄顯示他曾造訪中國，但是1901年印度總督第一代凱德爾斯頓寇松侯爵造訪緬甸時，他曾隨之到訪英屬印度直至1902年。

The characters Shangjun refer to Zhou Bin, a native of Zhangzhou in Fujian. He was a renowned carver of seal knobs who was active during the Kangxi reign and was known as 'Shangjun knob'. He was considered to be one of the finest sculptors and carvers who represent the zenith of the Chinese tradition of sculpture in soapstone carvings. See a pair of soapstone seals by Zhou Bin also with an incised signature seal, Shangjun, illustrated in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Oriental Ceramic Society, Hong Kong, 2011, pl.43.

The three character Ziruo ke inscription means "carved by Ziruo", where Ziruo is another name for Wang Yingshou (1788-1841), a seal carver, painter, calligrapher and scholar, who was the fifth generation descendent of Wang Yuanqi (1642-1715), a Chinese painter of the Qing dynasty. One of his well-known publications was Gao Fenghan's 'History of Inkstones' (yanshi). The eight characters on the same seal, si qi li zhi you suo bu ji, are from a poem Qiusheng fu (Rhapsody on the Sounds of Autumn) by the famous Song dynasty poet Ouyang Xiu.

Another carver's name included in this lot is Lin Xiu, who was a renowned soapstone seal carver during the Qianlong period.

壽山石質，鈕分別雕異獸者三，鴛鴦者二，鳳紋者又二。雕鳳鈕者印文同為「田字面」，或為主人自嘲語，扁身，石質熟黃，內生條狀石理，似俗稱之「蘿蔔筋」，較大鳳鈕印身有陰刻「尚均」款識。尚均即周彬，福建漳州人，活躍於康熙時期，專印鈕，尤善博古浮雕，人稱「尚均鈕」，名重一時，清代徐子晉《前塵夢影錄》贊道「印製鈕以尚均製作為第一」，此二印之鳳鈕，饒有古意，乃周氏最善。

二獸鈕印邊款分別有「子若刻」及「雨田囑子若刻」邊款，前者印文為白文「思其力之有所不及」，後者印面被磨平。王應綬（1788-1841），字子若、子卿，後改名日申，或作曰申，江蘇太倉人。諸生，王原祁玄孫，與王學浩齊名。工山水，精篆刻。存世有刻《百漢硯碑》、《硯史》。字號雨田者，乾隆以降頗多，難考。「思其力之有所不及」源自歐陽修《秋聲賦》：「而況思其力之所不及，憂其智之所不能」。

二鴛鴦鈕之風格頗似，大者刻朱文「棣輝堂」，邊款「林秀」，小者刻朱文「季仁」。棣輝堂可考者有錢塘趙繼禾，雍正壬子科進士（1732年）。林秀為乾隆時著名壽山鈕雕刻匠人。字號「季仁」者有許善長(1823—1891)，字季仁，浙江仁和人。出身官宦世家，少有文名，早歲冷宦京師，中年之後外宦江西，一生時間皆在任上，著有詩集《碧聲吟館倡酬錄》等。

一獸鈕印無邊款，刻朱文「可道人」。