Lot Essay
Lacquer carvings with Longqing reign marks are rare as the reign period was short, lasting only six years (1567-1572). Only five examples including the present dish have been published. Three comparable Longqing dishes all with similar upright dragons are known: the first, a dish also from the R.H.R Palmer and Lee Family collections, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Important Chinese Lacquer from the Lee Family Collection, 3 December 2008, lot 2130; a very similar dish of the same design and approximately the same size was included in the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, no. 67; and a lobed carved polychrome lacquer box was included in the exhibition, Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors, Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2007, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 106, no. 95; where the author cites the Lee Family dishes as references. Also, see a descending dragon on a Longqing basin in the British Museum, illustrated by Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, Faber and Faber, London, 1979, p. 145, no. 87.
The rendition of the lively upright dragon is closely comparable to those of the preceding Jiajing reign (1522-1566), cf. Jiajing-marked cinnabar lacquer carvings included in the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, p. 119, no. 59, an octagonal dish; an octagonal box, p. 123, no. 62; and a bowl, p. 127, no. 64.
The rendition of the lively upright dragon is closely comparable to those of the preceding Jiajing reign (1522-1566), cf. Jiajing-marked cinnabar lacquer carvings included in the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, p. 119, no. 59, an octagonal dish; an octagonal box, p. 123, no. 62; and a bowl, p. 127, no. 64.