The sixth highlight is a rare set of four imperial carved cinnabar lacquer garden seats, carved with children at play and dated to the eighteenth century.

Five-clawed dragons on the tops of the seats are the telling detail: in the Qing period the five-clawed dragon was reserved for the emperor and the imperial household. Combined with the dense qiangjin-style carving of boys at play, the set was almost certainly made for palace use. Large matching garden seats in carved cinnabar remain scarce as a complete group of four.

Bonhams estimates the set at HK$2,000,000–3,000,000. Cover and in-article photographs are these seats, not the luduan censers.

Source: facts drawn from Bonhams, “6 Masterpieces Defining the Iconic Speelman Collection” (ICONIC SPEELMAN, Hong Kong, 28 October 2026). Text rewritten for NAGEL Topic Insights; not a verbatim reprint.