A VERY FINELY EMBELLISHED ZITAN TWO-TIERED SCHOLAR'S BOX AND COVER

Details

A VERY FINELY EMBELLISHED ZITAN TWO-TIERED SCHOLAR'S BOX AND COVER
KANGXI

Comprising two deep rectangular boxes, an inner tray and cover all resting on a fitted stand with a carrying handle supported at the base by double scrolls, fitted with a bronze cross bar and lock, the cover finely inlaid with mother-of-pearl, malachite, agate, soapstone, glass, stained bone, coral and hardwood to depict tree peonies and magnolias springing up from behind pierced rockwork below the inscription fu gui chang chun, the sides decorated with seasonal flowers and auspicious fruit, the handle and stand with formal archaistic scrolls, the rims silver inlaid with key-pattern borders (minor replacements)
14 3/4in. (37.5cm.) long

Lot Essay

It is very rare to find hardstone embellished tiered boxes of this form and this appears to be the only published example.

The present lot can be compared with a rectangular box with similar inlaid borders and embellished on the cover with seasonal flowers illustrated in The People's Republic of China Exhibiton of Ming and Qing Works of Art from the Collection of The Palace Museum, Catalogue, Beijing, Japan, 1974, no.60. Another three-tiered embellished zitan box, also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Daguan, Gold, Silver, Jade and Stone, pl.116

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