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Lot Essay
The current Yuan lacquer box with exquisite mother-of-pearl inlay represents the most impressive manifestation of Yuan-dynasty lacquer art. The extraordinary delicacy and intricacy of the inlaid decoration, as well as the complexity and artistry of the overall design of the box, makes it a masterpiece of 14th-century lacquer.
In 1970, a large fragment of mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer was excavated from the site of the Yuan-dynasty capital Dadu in the west of Beijing. This fragment, possibly from the lid of a large box or a tray, depicts the Guanghan Palace (the Moon Palace, which was the abode of the moon goddess Chang'e), and the precision of shaping and laying the pieces as well as the use of colors and the fineness of the details incised into the tiny pieces of shell can still clearly be seen. The design on this fragment, like the scene on the cover of the present box, is very pictorial. In addition, mother-of-pearl lacquers decorated with pictorial scenes incorporating human figures appear to have been especially admired, based on a comment by Cao Zhao in the Gegu yaolun (The Essential Criteria of Antiques) in a section discussing the mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquer: 'In the Yuan Dynasty, rich families ordered this type of ware, but left the manufacturers to take their own time in their making. The products are in very solid lacquer, and the designs with human figures on them are delightful to the beholder.'
The scene depicted on the cover of the present box, although yet to be identified, can be found on two other published Yuan-period black lacquer boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl. One is a square tiered box and cover with indented corners from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection and illustrated in East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, p. 129-130, no. 57. The other is an octagonal box and cover dated to Yuan dynasty also from the Mike Healy Collection and illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the Mike Healy Collection, Honolulu, 2003, cat. no. 6, pp. 34-35.
The scene on the top of the Irving box is similar to the scene on the top of the present box in depicting ladies in a lush courtyard. The Healy box, however, depicts a group of figures with their farming tools and a dog. While the scene on the Healy box is different from that on the aforementioned boxes, the stylization of the figures and intricacy of the inlay is very similar and the similarity in composition in these three boxes suggests the likely use of a template.
For further Yuan mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquer examples sold at auction, see the octagonal mother-of-pearl lacquer box and cover inlaid with the maker’s name Liu Shaoxu, sold in Important Chinese Lacquer from the Lee Family Collection, Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1823, and an octagonal box and cover sold at Christie’s New York, 13 September 2019, lot 914. The shaped bird and flower panels on the sides of the present box are similarly rendered to the panels on the sides of the Irving box, and are also similar to the panel on the top of a Yuan mother-of-pearl-inlaid black-lacquer table from the Muwen Tang collection, illustrated by Simon Kwan, Chinese Mother-of-Pearl, Hong Kong, 2009, pp. 94-5, pl. 28.
In 1970, a large fragment of mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer was excavated from the site of the Yuan-dynasty capital Dadu in the west of Beijing. This fragment, possibly from the lid of a large box or a tray, depicts the Guanghan Palace (the Moon Palace, which was the abode of the moon goddess Chang'e), and the precision of shaping and laying the pieces as well as the use of colors and the fineness of the details incised into the tiny pieces of shell can still clearly be seen. The design on this fragment, like the scene on the cover of the present box, is very pictorial. In addition, mother-of-pearl lacquers decorated with pictorial scenes incorporating human figures appear to have been especially admired, based on a comment by Cao Zhao in the Gegu yaolun (The Essential Criteria of Antiques) in a section discussing the mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquer: 'In the Yuan Dynasty, rich families ordered this type of ware, but left the manufacturers to take their own time in their making. The products are in very solid lacquer, and the designs with human figures on them are delightful to the beholder.'
The scene depicted on the cover of the present box, although yet to be identified, can be found on two other published Yuan-period black lacquer boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl. One is a square tiered box and cover with indented corners from the Florence and Herbert Irving Collection and illustrated in East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, p. 129-130, no. 57. The other is an octagonal box and cover dated to Yuan dynasty also from the Mike Healy Collection and illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the Mike Healy Collection, Honolulu, 2003, cat. no. 6, pp. 34-35.
The scene on the top of the Irving box is similar to the scene on the top of the present box in depicting ladies in a lush courtyard. The Healy box, however, depicts a group of figures with their farming tools and a dog. While the scene on the Healy box is different from that on the aforementioned boxes, the stylization of the figures and intricacy of the inlay is very similar and the similarity in composition in these three boxes suggests the likely use of a template.
For further Yuan mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquer examples sold at auction, see the octagonal mother-of-pearl lacquer box and cover inlaid with the maker’s name Liu Shaoxu, sold in Important Chinese Lacquer from the Lee Family Collection, Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 December 2009, lot 1823, and an octagonal box and cover sold at Christie’s New York, 13 September 2019, lot 914. The shaped bird and flower panels on the sides of the present box are similarly rendered to the panels on the sides of the Irving box, and are also similar to the panel on the top of a Yuan mother-of-pearl-inlaid black-lacquer table from the Muwen Tang collection, illustrated by Simon Kwan, Chinese Mother-of-Pearl, Hong Kong, 2009, pp. 94-5, pl. 28.