Lot 144
144
A RARE LAC BURGUATÉ AND IVORY-INLAID COLLECTOR'S BOX

Details
A RARE LAC BURGUATÉ AND IVORY-INLAID COLLECTOR'S BOX
19TH CENTURY

Made in imitation of two ribbon-tied scrolls set atop two albums of paintings to create two compartments, the upper compartment designed to hold two small scrolls and the cover formed by the upper half of the scrolls, the lower compartment designed to hold one or two albums and the cover formed by the lower half of the scrolls and the top album; all in delicate lac burgauté imitating the diaper-decorated brocade coverings of the scrolls and the albums, the soft cloth tied around the scrolls also in mother-of-pearl inlaid black lacquer, while the scroll ends and the album leaves are imitated in ivory, as are each of the narrow, rectangular panels inlaid on each scroll and on the album identifying the name of the artist of the work contained within, one scroll inscribed, Lang Shining, the other, Wang Shigu shan, and the album, Tang Zhiru huahui, the inscriptions highlighted in gilding, minor restoration--6½in. (16.4cm.) long

Lot Essay

Lang Shining is the Chinese name of the Italian court artist, Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1768). The other two inscriptions may be translated as: 'Landscape (paintings) by Wang Shigu', and 'Flower (paintings) by Tang Zhiru', respectively

For a collector's box in red lacquer and ivory formed from a number of faux albums and scrolls see Masterpieces of Chinese Carved Lacquer Ware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, no. 40. For a simple three-scroll box and cover in zitan and jade see Christie's, New York, December 3, 1992, lot43