AN ARMORIAL EXPORT LACQUER 'GAMES' BOX AND COVER

EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Details

AN ARMORIAL EXPORT LACQUER 'GAMES' BOX AND COVER
early 19th century
Of rectangular shape, the cover with an animated riverscape, framed by multiple shaped borders decorated with variously patterned grounds at the edges and sides, a coat-of-arms within a shaped cartouche at the centre, the interior containing five smaller boxes and covers and eight trays, some restoration and re-gilding
14.5/8 x 12 in. (37.2 x 31.1 cm.)

Lot Essay

Compare the octagonal crested export lacquer games box and cover exhibited, A Tale of Three Cities: Canton,Shanghai & Hong Kong, London, 1997, Catalogue, no.245, p.187, where Mr. Howard explains that these boxes were among the most popular lacquer products of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, and the armorial examples were the finest.. They would have been used for card games such as 'Pope Joan' and the smaller boxes would have contained mother-of-pearl gaming counters.

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