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202 A FINELY ENGRAVED CHINESE PALE JADE SEAL,
by Shangjun, contained in a polished horn case. 75mm long, 20mm square
Provenance: The Family of Captain Edward Westby Vansittart;
together with A Portrait of Admiral Vansittart, father of Edward Westby Vansittart
Watercolour on ivory, 6 x 5cm
This rare seal is offered by the descendants of Edward Westby Vansittart (1818-1904) and
family tradition is that it is one of the gifts received by him from grateful merchants during his
duty on the China station in the 1850s.
Vansittart belongs to that type of British naval officer as epitomised by Cochrane, and fiction-
alised by C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brien. Son of an admiral and joining the navy at the age of
thirteen he became a first class seaman, contemptuous of authority. By the time he brought
the sloop H.M.S Brig “Bittern” (ironclad) to the North China Sea, he had gained a reputation for
independence and initiative ideal for the task of suppressing piracy. Insanely outnumbered
in October 1855 he destroyed the fleet of armed junks at Sheipoo that had been cruising the
China coast, categorised by the Imperial powers as ‘pirates’. The North-China Herald records
that the ‘native’ merchants rewarded him with cash, plate and gifts.
€ 3,000 - 5,000