18TH/19TH CENTURY

Gilt-lacqured chests of this type, decorated in gesso with dragons and/or phoenixes, appear to be part of a group of imperial furnishings and accoutrements used to hold both seals and jade tablets. An example of the former, with decoration similar to the present chest, is illustrated in Imperial Life in the Qing Dynasty: Treasures from the Shenyang Palace Museum, China, Singapore, 1989, p. 8. Similarly decorated, though smaller, yellow-ground chests used to hold jade tablets are illustrated ibid., p. 28. See, also, the similar gilt-lacquered seal chest, further adorned with silver mounts, sold at Christie's New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1758.