AN EXTREMELY RARE MING CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER LOBED BOX AND COVER

Details

AN EXTREMELY RARE MING CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER LOBED BOX AND COVER
JIAJING INCISED AND GILT SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1522-1566)

The deep box and cover of an unusual elongated octagonal lobed form, crisply carved on the raised top panel of conforming shape with a Shou roundel supported on a lingzhi fungus borne on a leafy vine rising up from rocks and waves, amidst thick cloud-scrolls, the curved sides with a ribbon-tied Daoist auspicious emblem on each of the eight lobes and the broad vertical rim carved in low relief with prunus blossoms against a ground of turbulent waves, the box decorated with the same bands and raised on a foliate foot ring, the interior and base with black lacquer, age cracks
7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm.) wide, Japanese box

Provenance

The Maeda Family, Kanazawa, Japan

Lot Essay

No other box of this design appears to be published.

The closest comparison to the present lot is a Jiajing-marked five-lobed box and cover with a longevity symbol and similar broad decorative bands around the sides that create depth for the vessel, illustrated in Carved Lacquer in the Collection of the Palace Museum, 1985, pl. 172.

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