Lot Essay
This motif with phoenix and dragon facing each other with a flaming pearl between is very popular during the Ming dynasty. Other examples of lacquerware with the same pattern are a carved polychrome lacquer dish from the British Museum and a qiangjin-decorated cabinet from the Victoria and Albert Museum, both illustrated in Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, Faber and Faber, London 1979, p.80, pl.D, and pp.181-182, pls.127-128 ; See also a box from the Royal Scottish Museum in Edimburg of the same shape and with similar floral borders illustrated in D. Lion-Goldschmidt, Arts de la Chine, Fribourg 1963, pp.352-353, pl.165