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Lot Essay
The cover is superbly carved through thick layers of cinnabar lacquer to a green ground depicting a powerful scaly five clawed dragon with its wings widespread, leaping through cloud and frame scrolls below a flaming pearl, all within a bracket lobed cartouche enclosed in an octagonal panel. The slanted sides are divided into eight panels, each enclosing a bracket lobed cartouche depicting a different mythical animal; the straight sides separated into eight rectangular panels alternating between cranes and phoenix, each carved against a yellow ground. The pattern is similarly repeated on the sides of the box. The interiors and base are lacquered black.
The unusual dragon depicted on this magnificent box is known as yinglong, a type of winged dragon mentioned in various ancient texts including Shan Hai Jing, which was compiled by Liu Xiang and his son Liu Qin in the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and revised by Guo Pu in the Eastern Jin period (AD 317-420). The yinglong was believed to be a rain bearer and was prayed to during droughts. It was regarded as a benevolent and auspicious creature, and thus, its depiction on a lacquer box made for imperial use was highly appropriate.
It is extremely rare to find ying dragons on lacquer wares. Two other identical examples are known. One example is from the Lee Family Collection and was exhibited at The Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, Dragon and Phoenix: Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection, Tokyo, Cologne, 24 March to 24 June 1990, and is illustrated in the catalogue front cover and on p. 27 and pl. 56. The Lee Family box bears the same design and shape, except the dragon’s fifth claw has been removed on all four limbs. While to the contrary, all claws on the current box are well preserved. The other box from this French family collection was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2024, lot 1422.
The unusual dragon depicted on this magnificent box is known as yinglong, a type of winged dragon mentioned in various ancient texts including Shan Hai Jing, which was compiled by Liu Xiang and his son Liu Qin in the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and revised by Guo Pu in the Eastern Jin period (AD 317-420). The yinglong was believed to be a rain bearer and was prayed to during droughts. It was regarded as a benevolent and auspicious creature, and thus, its depiction on a lacquer box made for imperial use was highly appropriate.
It is extremely rare to find ying dragons on lacquer wares. Two other identical examples are known. One example is from the Lee Family Collection and was exhibited at The Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, Dragon and Phoenix: Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection, Tokyo, Cologne, 24 March to 24 June 1990, and is illustrated in the catalogue front cover and on p. 27 and pl. 56. The Lee Family box bears the same design and shape, except the dragon’s fifth claw has been removed on all four limbs. While to the contrary, all claws on the current box are well preserved. The other box from this French family collection was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2024, lot 1422.