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Lot Essay
A hexagonal tired box and cover carved with a very similar scene to that found on the present example is illustrated by D. Clifford, Chinese Carved Lacquer, London, 1992, p. 61, no. 37. The author notes that Sir Harry Garner had dated a very similar example bearing a Zhang Cheng signature to the late fifteenth century, whereas the Beijing Palace Museum had dated three others to the Xuande period.
For a similar depiction of this amusing scene on a small box and cover dated to the late Ming dynasty, see Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji, vol. 5, Ming, Fujian, 1997, pp. 170-171, no. 161 and a similar-sized example also depicting the seated Budai and children dated to the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 May 1994, lot 289; a lightly larger circular box and cover dated to the late fifteenth/early sixteenth century, depicting a landscape was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 April 2004, lot 1101.
For a similar depiction of this amusing scene on a small box and cover dated to the late Ming dynasty, see Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji, vol. 5, Ming, Fujian, 1997, pp. 170-171, no. 161 and a similar-sized example also depicting the seated Budai and children dated to the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 4 May 1994, lot 289; a lightly larger circular box and cover dated to the late fifteenth/early sixteenth century, depicting a landscape was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 26 April 2004, lot 1101.