QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE ENAMEL WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

The box is rendered with great precision and much attention has been paid to the details of decoration including the interior. The floral sprays are painted in a naturalistic style, suggesting that the artist was trained in the Western manner. Small painted enamel boxes bearing Qianlong marks are rare, compare with a slightly larger box painted with birds and flower in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji, vol. 6, Hebei, p. 99, no. 152, which is inscribed with a Qianlong mark enclosed within a double gourd on the base; and a rectangular box and cover with European figures bearing a similar mark sold at Christie’s Paris, 9 June 2015, lot 314.