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Lot Essay
A box of the same size and identical design is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors, Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2007, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 58, no. 035. A slightly smaller box (6.7 cm. diam.), in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 102, no. 74. Two boxes from the Fritz Low-Beer Collection, now in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, one with an incised Yongle mark, the other with a Xuande mark, are illustrated in Im Zeichen Des Drachen, Munchen, 2006, pp. 104-105, nos. 38 and 39 where a dating of this group to the Yuan-early Ming dynasty is postulated.
Boxes of such design may be found together with carved lotus trays, where the set forms part of the utensils used in the tea ceremony in temples in Japan. A number of such sets are published, including two sets, one from the Tokyo National Museum Collection, the other from a private collection, exhibited by the Tokugawa and Nezu Museums, 1984, Carved Lacquer, and illustrated in the Catalogue, pp. 86-87, nos. 120 and 121. Another set was included in the exhibition of Chinese Lacquerwork, Tokyo Bijitsu Club, 20-22 May 1970, no. 83. A box and a tray bearing a Zhou Ming zao mark, both of the same design and similar size to the present example, were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 April 2001, lots 633 and 634; and a final example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3076.
The current box is particularly interesting since it appears to differ from other published examples in having the decorative motif on the cover continue to the base with no area on the base left exposed. It may indicate that this particular box was not made with an accompanying tray.
Boxes of such design may be found together with carved lotus trays, where the set forms part of the utensils used in the tea ceremony in temples in Japan. A number of such sets are published, including two sets, one from the Tokyo National Museum Collection, the other from a private collection, exhibited by the Tokugawa and Nezu Museums, 1984, Carved Lacquer, and illustrated in the Catalogue, pp. 86-87, nos. 120 and 121. Another set was included in the exhibition of Chinese Lacquerwork, Tokyo Bijitsu Club, 20-22 May 1970, no. 83. A box and a tray bearing a Zhou Ming zao mark, both of the same design and similar size to the present example, were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 April 2001, lots 633 and 634; and a final example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2010, lot 3076.
The current box is particularly interesting since it appears to differ from other published examples in having the decorative motif on the cover continue to the base with no area on the base left exposed. It may indicate that this particular box was not made with an accompanying tray.