A VERY RARE LARGE QIANGJIN AND TIANQI LACQUER FAN-SHAPED BOX AND COVER

QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Details

A VERY RARE LARGE QIANGJIN AND TIANQI LACQUER FAN-SHAPED BOX AND COVER
QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
The deep cover decorated in qiangjin and tianqi technique with a central peony sprig flanked by sinuous long-tailed phoenixes, surrounded by large single auspicious bats and pairs of smaller bats, amidst ruyi-form clouds, with large peony sprays at the corners on wan diaper grounds, all picked out in black, red, brown and green within gold-filled incised lines reserved on a rich orange-red ground, the edges with a narrow band of key-fret design above similarly decorated sides, the box of plain black lacquer edged with similar key-fret design and on low flush feet, the base incised and gilt with a Kangxi six-character mark
23 5/8 in. (60 cm.) wide, Japanese wood box

Provenance

A Japanese private collection

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Lot Essay

Compare a larger (90.2 cm. wide) fan-shaped lacquer box and cover on a stand, decorated with an identical design but bearing a Yongzheng six-character mark which sold at Christie's New York, 26 March 2003, lot 9. The prototype for the present box, a very similar 16th century late Ming fan-shaped box of the same design, is illustrated by S. Kwan, Chinese Lacquer, Hong Kong, 2010, p. 244, no. 80.

The techniques of qiangjin, incised lines filled with gold, and tianqi, or 'filled-in' coloured lacquer, were often combined during the mid to late Ming dynasty, when they were especially popular. They continued to be used in the Qing dynasty, with many pieces decorated in this way bearing Qianlong marks.

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