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Page Background 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