The story of the Chinese seals found in Ireland: Orientalism at the service of the search for the homeland

Abstract

Starting from the late 18th century, Chinese porcelain seals started to turn up at various parts of Ireland, in the strangest places–in an orchard, a cave, bogs, and so on. These finds gradually grew in number and within a few decades over sixty seals were documented. Their discovery could not be explained at the time and a number of fanciful hypotheses were advanced as to how these seals “of great antiquity” appeared in Ireland. The article documents how and why they were misinterpreted in Ireland, specifically how these objects, which came over to Europe in the 18th century as souvenirs from an exotic land, were almost purposefully misunderstood so that they would fit contemporary Orientalist currents, and how little attention was paid to the cautioning voices of
those who were qualified to form an opinion on the subject.