Qianlong period examples of the present circular box and cover are rare and this example appears to be unique. However, the inspiration for this form of decoration using large Chinese characters came from carved lacquers of the Ming dynasty Jiajing period (1522-1566). Two examples are known, the first is a large circular box with a Jiajing six-character mark, in the Beijing Palace Museum collection is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 182, no. 140. The Beijing Palace example is carved with a large Shou character on the upper surface, against fruiting peach trees and a flanked by a pair of cranes in flight. The other example is also Jiajing-marked but carved with a Fu, character, denoting 'Great Fortune', and the sides carved with dragons, included in the exhibition, Carved Lacquer, the Tokugawa Art Museum and the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, 1984, and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 187.