AN UNUSUAL TWO-COLOUR LACQUER BOX AND COVER

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AN UNUSUAL TWO-COLOUR LACQUER BOX AND COVER
18TH CENTURY

Intricately carved in imitation of bound books, the covers fastened with clasps at the sides, the shorter sides of the box simulate the pages of the books contained within, the cover of the box intricately carved with a landscape scene of a village among rocky mountains and a flowing river, reserved on a black lacquer wan-character diaper-ground, the long sides of the box and cover similarly decorated with narcissus, peony, chrysanthemum and lotus, the interior and base lacquered black (rims repaired and areas of lacquer stablised)
6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) wide

Lot Essay

Other closely related examples, all with covers carved in imitation of floral brocade, are published: a box in the Tianjin Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji, vol. 6, Qing, no. 221; a polychrome lacquer box with ivory simulating the edges of the pages, included in the exhibition, Daily Life of a Qing Emperor, Hong Kong, 1994, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 53; and two other boxes are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, the first illustrated in Sankido and Master Pieces of Chinese Stationary, Tokyo, 1990, p. 24; and the box published in Carved Lacquer in the Collection of the Palace Museum,no. 395. The present box appears to be the only example carved with a landscape scene on the cover.

(US$15,000-20,000)

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