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Lot Essay
The exquisite carving and naturalistic depiction of hibiscus flowers on the present box is very rare and is characteristic of carved lacquerware from the early Ming period, which represents some of the finest decoration found in the Chinese decorative repertoire. The rendering of the hibiscus is characterised by the deep naturalistic carving, and as Clarence F. Shangraw observes in his article 'Chinese Lacquers in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco', Orientations, April 1986, pp. 22-41, "The lacquer style of the Yongle era echoes that of the underglaze-blue decorated porcelains and continued into the subsequent Xuande reign".
Among the earliest surviving depictions of autumn hibiscus on the decorative arts is a rare Southern Song (1127-1279) or Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) square painted lacquer tray in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, which has a spray of these flowers painted in colours and gold in the centre (see Terese Tse Bartholomew, The Hundred Flowers – Botanical Motifs in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 1985, no. 41). Autumn hibiscus also appear on a famous circular carved lacquer ‘birds’ dish in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by J.C.Y. Watt and B. Brennan Form in East Asian Lacquer – The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, pp. 68-9, no. 19.
A number of related boxes of varying sizes bearing Yongle and/or Xuande reign marks have been published decorated with one, three, five or seven blooms to the top of the cover. The closest example in terms of design to the present box is another example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowu Yuancang Diaoqi, Wenwu Chubanshe, 1985, no 34. A Xuande and Yongle-marked 'camellia' box decorated with three blooms from the Dr. Ip Yee and Lee Family collections was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1819. Another example with a Xuande mark in the Palace Museum collection, Beijing is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2006, p.46, no. 29. A 'peony' box (21.9 cm. diam.) incised with a Yongle mark and decorated with five flowerheads is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei and was included in the Special Exhibition of Lacquer Wares in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, and exhibited in the Catalogue, no. 8.
The repertoire of floral decoration on extant boxes belonging to this group includes camellia, chrysanthemum and hibiscus as well as peony. Cf. the 'camellia' box included in the British Museum exhibition, Chinese and Associated Lacquer from the Garner Collection, 1973, and illustrated in the catalogue, no. 32; an example from the Nezu Art Museum, exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum, Exhibition of Oriental Lacquer Arts, 1977, Catalogue, no. 506; and another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji, vol. 5, Ming, Fujian meishu chubanshe, 1995, pl. 17. Other examples of Yongle boxes of varying sizes and differing numbers of flowerheads in the Palace Museum Beijing are illustrated in op. cit., Wenwu Chubanshe, 1985, nos. 31-42.
Among the earliest surviving depictions of autumn hibiscus on the decorative arts is a rare Southern Song (1127-1279) or Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) square painted lacquer tray in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, which has a spray of these flowers painted in colours and gold in the centre (see Terese Tse Bartholomew, The Hundred Flowers – Botanical Motifs in Chinese Art, San Francisco, 1985, no. 41). Autumn hibiscus also appear on a famous circular carved lacquer ‘birds’ dish in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by J.C.Y. Watt and B. Brennan Form in East Asian Lacquer – The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, pp. 68-9, no. 19.
A number of related boxes of varying sizes bearing Yongle and/or Xuande reign marks have been published decorated with one, three, five or seven blooms to the top of the cover. The closest example in terms of design to the present box is another example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong Bowu Yuancang Diaoqi, Wenwu Chubanshe, 1985, no 34. A Xuande and Yongle-marked 'camellia' box decorated with three blooms from the Dr. Ip Yee and Lee Family collections was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1819. Another example with a Xuande mark in the Palace Museum collection, Beijing is illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2006, p.46, no. 29. A 'peony' box (21.9 cm. diam.) incised with a Yongle mark and decorated with five flowerheads is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei and was included in the Special Exhibition of Lacquer Wares in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, and exhibited in the Catalogue, no. 8.
The repertoire of floral decoration on extant boxes belonging to this group includes camellia, chrysanthemum and hibiscus as well as peony. Cf. the 'camellia' box included in the British Museum exhibition, Chinese and Associated Lacquer from the Garner Collection, 1973, and illustrated in the catalogue, no. 32; an example from the Nezu Art Museum, exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum, Exhibition of Oriental Lacquer Arts, 1977, Catalogue, no. 506; and another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji, vol. 5, Ming, Fujian meishu chubanshe, 1995, pl. 17. Other examples of Yongle boxes of varying sizes and differing numbers of flowerheads in the Palace Museum Beijing are illustrated in op. cit., Wenwu Chubanshe, 1985, nos. 31-42.