18TH/19TH CENTURY

Details

A LARGE IMPERIAL GILT-LACQUERED WOOD SEAL CHEST
18TH/19TH CENTURY
Of rectangular form, each side is relief-decorated in gesso with a five-clawed dragon and a phoenix grasping a peony stem in its beak confronted amidst clouds, which also decorate the top and canted sides of the cover and the sides of the base, which is pierced for the insertion of the woven yellow cords. The handles have phoenix-head terminals and the lock plate and clasp are incised with lotus scroll.
17 in. (43.2 cm.) high, 18½ in. (47 cm.) wide, 14¾ in. (37.5 cm.) deep

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Lot Essay

Gilt-lacqured chests of this type, decorated in gesso with dragons and/or phoenixes, appear to be part of a group of imperial furnishings and accoutrements used to hold both seals and jade tablets. An example of the former, with decoration similar to the present chest, is illustrated in Imperial Life in the Qing Dynasty: Treasures from the Shenyang Palace Museum, China, Singapore, 1989, p. 8. Similarly decorated, though smaller, yellow-ground chests used to hold jade tablets are illustrated ibid., p. 28. See, also, the similar gilt-lacquered seal chest, further adorned with silver mounts, sold at Christie's New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1758.

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