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Lot Essay
This is a rare box, since the majority of wucai circular boxes have pierced lids. The present sensitive design with a pair of birds and butterflies in the peaceful ambiance of a garden is also quite rare and unusual. More commonly, such boxes are decorated with figural designs such as scholars or Daoist fairies in a landscape.
See a Wanli wucai box of this design, in the Manchester City Art Galleries, illustrated in C.M. Kauffmann, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Manchester City Art Galleries, in Oriental Art, New Series, vol.V, no.3, Autumn 1959, pp.120-22, pl.3.
The decorative designs on wucai and blue and white porcelains of similar form were often closely related. An example of this is the blue and white box in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze blue and red, Hong Kong, Woods, 1987, no. 162.
See a Wanli wucai box of this design, in the Manchester City Art Galleries, illustrated in C.M. Kauffmann, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain in the Manchester City Art Galleries, in Oriental Art, New Series, vol.V, no.3, Autumn 1959, pp.120-22, pl.3.
The decorative designs on wucai and blue and white porcelains of similar form were often closely related. An example of this is the blue and white box in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qingzheng, Underglaze blue and red, Hong Kong, Woods, 1987, no. 162.