The 2½in (6cm) high seals cut in tianhuang style – one with a landscape and a poem, the other with lotus leaves, insects and a frog – were among a group of 29 lots that came for sale from the Danish grand-daughter of the British colonel, and adjutant of George V, Evelyn Williams Medows Norie (1862-1915).
Born in India to English parents, Norie had a military education in India and from 1900 served in the Boxer Rebellion in China as a captain in the international military coalition.
It was at this point that he assembled his collection of Asian art which passed down through the family and was now sold by his grandchild.
All bar three of the Norie lots changed hands. A multi-estimate price was also paid for a 10in (25cm) high porcelain vase decorated in underglaze blue with bands of flowers, foliage, tendrils and waves.
Catalogued as marked Qianlong but 19th century, it sold for Dkr1.02m (£121,115) against a guide of Dkr30,000.
“Norie served in the Boxer Rebellion in China as a captain in the international military coalition
The collection formed part of a larger Asian sale from various vendors.
The highest price overall at Dkr1.8m (€213,775) was paid for an 11in (27cm) high Kangxi period gilt bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni seated in dhyanasana on a double lotus throne.
The lot came with an old provenance, having been acquired in 1939 in Shanghai by a captain sailing for the East Asiatic Company.
£1 = Dkr8.42
