AN UNUSUAL CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER FLORAL-FORM BOX AND COVER

Details

AN UNUSUAL CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER FLORAL-FORM BOX AND COVER
INCISED AND GILT QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Lobed to resemble the shape of a begonia, the box and cover have unusually tall straight sides carved with the Eight Buddhist Emblems alternating with cartouches enclosing fruiting sprays, all against an intricate diaper ground, the flat surface of the cover is well carved with an outdoor scene enclosed in a lobed cartouche, depicting a European gentleman and his two servants by a lake surrounded by trees, rocks and shrubs, all raised on a splayed foot encircled by a lotus lappet band, the interiors lacquered black and inscribed on the interior of the cover, Zhi Yun Bao He, 'Precious Box of Zhi Yun' (minor restoration)
11 3/4 in. (29.9 cm.) across

Lot Essay

The present lot is unusual in its shape and subject matter. No other box and cover with this begonia shape and of such a pronounced height appear to have been recorded.

Although the use of European subject matter is not uncommon during the eighteenth century, one rarely finds it as the main choice of decoration on lacquerware. The closest comparison to the present lot is another, named box Long Feng Bao He, 'The dragon and phoenix treasure box', shaped as two conjoined circles and carved on the cover with a European rider, illustrated in Zhongguo Gudai Diaoqi Jindi Yishu Zhi Yanjiu, The Study of Ancient Chinese Brocade-Ground Carved Lacquer, p. 308.

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