.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present lot belongs to a very small group of Jiajing-period lacquer chests containing multiple drawers and exquisitely carved on each side with auspicious motifs favoured by the Jiajing Emperor. This box in particular displays superior workmanship with complex decorative elements rendered in the finest details, and is truly remarkable for retaining the original drawers with matching design.
A Jiajing-marked chest of almost identical design and size is in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 136. Another example, possibly created as a counterpart to the present box, has similar decorative features but with confronting phoenix instead of dragons on each side. This example was formerly in the Lee Family Collection and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1829 (one of two).
Compare also to a slightly larger Jiajing-marked cinnabar lacquer chest of the same structure containing eight drawers and carved with cranes within ogival panels, from the Lee Family Collection and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2102.
A Jiajing-marked chest of almost identical design and size is in the Beijing Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 136. Another example, possibly created as a counterpart to the present box, has similar decorative features but with confronting phoenix instead of dragons on each side. This example was formerly in the Lee Family Collection and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1829 (one of two).
Compare also to a slightly larger Jiajing-marked cinnabar lacquer chest of the same structure containing eight drawers and carved with cranes within ogival panels, from the Lee Family Collection and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2102.