Lot 74
74
AN UNUSUAL SILVER RECTANGULAR COSMETIC CASE
AN UNUSUAL SILVER RECTANGULAR COSMETIC CASE

QING DYNASTY

Details
AN UNUSUAL SILVER RECTANGULAR COSMETIC CASE
Qing Dynasty
The hinged top cast in high relief with an inscription bordered by a band of shou characters, opening to reveal a silver mirror and with a butterfly clasp flanked by etched chrysanthemum sprays above two small and one long drawer cast in relief with peonies and hung with basket pulls, the sides engraved with peonies growing from rocks reserved on a ground of wan diaper and applied with pairs of bats suspending a C-scroll handle, the back etched with a shou medallion encircled by four bats also reserved on a wan diaper ground, all above a bracketed apron etched with bamboo sprays and branches of prunus
7.3/8in. (18.7cm.) high, 9in. (23.5cm.) wide, 12in. (31.1cm.) deep

Lot Essay

The inscription plays on the concept of the mirror reflecting the face and the heart.

Compare the ivory cosmetic case that is similar in form and in its bracketed apron included in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 28 February - 12 April 1987, no. 619.