Compare the characteristics of the whiskered dragons with those carved on the cover of a Qianlong-marked polychrome lacquer circular box, included in the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, 1993, Catalogue, no. 76, p. 146. Further research from the Archives of the Imperial Workshop at the Yangxin Hall by Yang Boda indicated that the first piece of official carved lacquer in the Qing dynasty was produced in 1738, loc. cit. Also compare the well-carved dragons with those on a circular box, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, Qing dynasty, vol. 6, no. 207; and on a Qianlong cinnabar lacquer tea-ceremony chest, sold in these Rooms, 26 April 1998, lot 565.

For an earlier Ming dynasty polychrome lacquer bowl with dragons chasing a 'flaming pearl', see op. cit., Ming dynasty, vol. 5, no. 134.

(US$32,000-38,000)