A Sapphire Blue Glass Seal19th century Of upright oval form, with a skillfully carved mythical beast as the knop, the sides carved with a repeating archaistic C-curl pattern, the legend on the underside in relief reading Xiyu shanfang 喜雨山房 (Mountain Studio for Enjoying the Rain). 2 1/8in (5.5cm) high 十九世紀 藍寳石色《喜雨山房》料印 In the Qing Imperial Palace the Yuanming Yuan, there was a building named Xiyu Shanfang (Mountain Studio for Enjoying the Rain). The structure was built during the Qianlong period, at which time it was referred to as the Leshui Shanfang , and in the Jiaqing period the name changed to Xiyu Shanfang . Although it would be difficult to declare definitively that this seal was made for the Yuanming Yuan, the sophisticated level of carving indicates that is was likely a product of the Imperial Glassworks. For another Transparent pale blue glass seal dated to the Qianlong period and surmounted by a mythical beast knop, suoni , and bearing the relief seal Yangxing Dian (The Hall of Spiritual Cultivation) located at the Palace of Tranquil Longevity in the Forbidden City, see Liu Xinyan, Xiang Xiaqun and Zhong Guomiao, Treasures of Chinese Qing Dynasty Palace Glass , London, 2019, p. 168. The authors note that the glass is imported and therefore dense and hard and difficult to carve. They employed special engraving techniques used for jade items.