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Lot Essay
The present box relates very closely and is likely to have been produced by the same artist or workshop as a mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer stand sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1568. The scene depicted on the top of the stand and the present box include the same elements and are very similar in composition.
It is extremely rare to find a mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer decorated with birds from this early period; the majority of extent pieces are decorated with figures in landscapes (narratives of popular stories or plays, or historical figures), or elegant floral branches or detached sprigs. Compare with the equally elaborate birds, this time cranes or egrets in flight above a lotus pond on a oval container dated to the Yuan dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 20, no. 13
It is extremely rare to find a mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer decorated with birds from this early period; the majority of extent pieces are decorated with figures in landscapes (narratives of popular stories or plays, or historical figures), or elegant floral branches or detached sprigs. Compare with the equally elaborate birds, this time cranes or egrets in flight above a lotus pond on a oval container dated to the Yuan dynasty in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 20, no. 13