Irugo World Issues Qing Dynasty Emperor's Jade Seal NFT

by Choi Donghyeon

Published 11 Mar.2022 09:11(KST)

Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Huazhen Jade Dragon Gate Mermaid.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Irugo Asset Management will issue a Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong's Huazhen Jade Dragon Seal non-fungible token (NFT) through the metaverse platform Irugo World.

Irugo Asset Management announced on the 11th that it has signed a contract with the nonprofit organization Unico Cultural Exchange and Yiwise 2004 for the exhibition of ancient artifacts and the issuance of NFTs.

A total of 80 ancient artifacts have been confirmed for NFT issuance within Irugo World. Among them, the most well-known is the Huazhen Jade of Emperor Qianlong (1735?1796), the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China. The Huazhen Jade is one of the 1,700 jade seals created during Emperor Qianlong's reign.

About 700 of Emperor Qianlong's jade seals have disappeared, leaving around 1,000 remaining, some of which have been auctioned. In a 2011 auction in Toulouse, France, one was sold for 12.4 million euros (approximately 19.5 billion KRW). In a 2016 auction conducted by the French auction house Drouot, the hammer price reached 21 million euros (approximately 26 billion KRW).

Irugo Asset Management will set up an exhibition room on the second floor of its office building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to display ancient artifacts including the emperor's jade seal. After the exhibition ends, 3D modeling work will begin, and the NFTs will be issued as items in Irugo World, which is scheduled to conduct an open beta test in June.

The artifact NFTs introduced in Irugo World will be developed to allow attribute increases or enhancements within the platform. To this end, Irugo Asset Management is currently conducting legal reviews regarding the issuance of NFTs in Irugo World. The goal is to create NFTs from real assets and integrate them into Irugo World in a way that does not violate current laws.

Kim Jeong-su, CEO of Irugo Asset Management, said, “We have prepared extensively to scan ancient artifacts through 3D modeling and transform them into NFT art,” adding, “We plan to issue more types of NFT art in the future so that they can be used on the Irugo World platform.”