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Lot Essay
Boxes of such designs may be found together with carved lotus trays, where the set forms part of the utensils used in the tea ceremony in temples in Japan. A number of such sets are published, including two sets, one from the Tokyo National Museum Colelction, the other from a private collection, exhibited by the Tokugawa and Nezu Museums, 1984, Carved Lacquer and illustrated in the Catalogue pp. 86-87, nos. 120 and 121, the latter with a tray bearing a Zhou Ming zao mark as found on example in the present sale. Another set was included in the exhibition of Chinese Lacquerwork, Tokyo Bijitsu Club, 20-22 May 1970, no. 83. A box and a tray bearing a Zhou Ming zao mark, both of the same design and similar size to our present example, were sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30, April 2001, lots 633 and 634.
A box of the same size and identical design is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors, Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2007, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 58, no. 035. A slightly smaller box (6.7 cm. diam.) , in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 102, no. 74 (see fig.1). Two boxes from the Fritz Low-Beer Collection, now in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, one with an incised Yongle mark, the other with a Xuande mark, are illustrated in Im Zeichen Des Drachen, Munchen, 2006, pp. 104-105, nos. 38 and 39 where a dating of this group to the Yuan-early Ming dynasty is postulated.
Similar red lacquer trays also with eleven petals are known, one in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, included in the Special Exhibition, Jixiang - Auspicious Motifs in Chinese Art, Tokyo, 1998, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 9; and another in the British Museum from the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, illustrated by H. Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London,1979, p. 144, pls. 51 and 52.
A black lacquer dish of this form with an incised Yang Mao zao mark from the Edward T. Chow Collection, is illustrated by Lee Yu-kuan, Oriental Lacquer Art, Tokyo and New York, 1972, p. 166, no. 100; and another is in the Seattle Art Museum, illustrated in Asiatic Art in the Seattle Art Museum, no. 137.
A box of the same size and identical design is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors, Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2007, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 58, no. 035. A slightly smaller box (6.7 cm. diam.) , in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 102, no. 74 (see fig.1). Two boxes from the Fritz Low-Beer Collection, now in the Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, one with an incised Yongle mark, the other with a Xuande mark, are illustrated in Im Zeichen Des Drachen, Munchen, 2006, pp. 104-105, nos. 38 and 39 where a dating of this group to the Yuan-early Ming dynasty is postulated.
Similar red lacquer trays also with eleven petals are known, one in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, included in the Special Exhibition, Jixiang - Auspicious Motifs in Chinese Art, Tokyo, 1998, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 9; and another in the British Museum from the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, illustrated by H. Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London,1979, p. 144, pls. 51 and 52.
A black lacquer dish of this form with an incised Yang Mao zao mark from the Edward T. Chow Collection, is illustrated by Lee Yu-kuan, Oriental Lacquer Art, Tokyo and New York, 1972, p. 166, no. 100; and another is in the Seattle Art Museum, illustrated in Asiatic Art in the Seattle Art Museum, no. 137.