18TH-19TH CENTURY

Compare the larger (7.15 cm. wide) mother-of-pearl and gold foil-inlaid lacquer covered box with a Qianli mark, of fluted, lobed hexagonal shape, illustrated by G. Tsang and H. Moss in the exhibition catalogue, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, 1986, pp. 168-69, no. 144. Like the present covered box, the decoration includes diaper pattern, and small fruiting branches on the interior, but the circular Qianli mark, also in seal characters, is inlaid in gold rather than mother-of-pearl. According to the catalogue entry, Jiang Qianli was a late Ming or Kangxi period lacquerer. The Qianli mark, however, continued to be used on small inlaid lacquer wares throughout the Qing dynasty.