A CHINESE GILT-WOOD ANCESTRAL ALTAR TABLET OF NURHACI FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY The rectangular tablet raised on a plinth, inscribed with Nurhaci`s temple name and posthumous title, Taizu Emperor Chengtian Guangyun Shengde Shengong Zhaoji Liji Renxiao Ruiwu Duanyi Qin`an Hongwen Dingye Gao, in Chinese and Manchurian, 67.5cm. Provenance: from the collection of G R A Murray and thence by descent. Exhibited: National Gallery of South Africa, Cape Town, Chinese Exhibition, 1953, no.239. Ancestral tablets are a home for the spirit of a deceased person after burial. They are kept in a family temple for the living to worship and make offerings to the spirits. Posthumous names can be regarded as respectful names given to the notable royalty and strictly follow a fixed format. By the Jiaqing reign, Nurhaci`s posthumous title was twenty-four characters long, since then it was decided that the titles were standardised and would not be further lengthened. We would like to thank Dr Lars Laamann of SOAS University for his help in dating this lot.