A RARE PAIR OF MASSIVE CARVED MULTI-COLOR LACQUER PEACH-FORM BOXES

18TH/19TH CENTURY

细节

A RARE PAIR OF MASSIVE CARVED MULTI-COLOR LACQUER PEACH-FORM BOXES
18th/19th century
Each finely carved in elaborate detail through the layers of red, dark green, ochre, reddish-brown and olive-green lacquer with scenes of immortals: one cover with Xiwangmu shown seated on a phoenix as it flies towards her elaborate palace where another scene of Xiwangmu is also shown, this time a monkey kneels on the the steps of the palace as he offers the immortal, who is seated within, a peach that he has stolen from one of her trees, with female attendants and musicians shown on the terrace and palace grounds, including one holding a bottle which issues vapor enclosing a shou character and bats; the other cover carved with Shoulao, the god of Longevity, examining a scroll in a well-appointed scholar's study while outside the Eight Immortals with their attributes are shown at various pursuits: Zhang Guo Lao leaning over the balustrade of the study as he looks down at his mule running free in the foreground where He Xiangu and Lancai He walk, while on the terrace Zhongli Quan, Han Xiangzi and Cao Guojiu stand peering up at Lu Dongbin and Li Tieguai, who pours a multi-colored stream of elixir from his double-gourd flask; the sides of both boxes carved with a continuation of the scene on the cover and each interior fitted with a shallow red lacquer tray carved with a large shou character surrounded by five bats, the wufu, reserved against a ground of wan diaper below a narrow band of demi-diaper on the rim, the interiors and bases covered in black lacquer
22in. (56.9cm.) across, boxes (2)

拍品专文

No other pair of boxes combining this shape, unusually large size, and carved in multi-colored layers of lacquer appear to have been published.

As the peach is an emblem of marriage, as well as longevity, one can assume that this pair of magnificent boxes must have been made as a very grand marriage gift. The decoration of the boxes is most auspicious; one decorated with the legend of Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, who resided in a beautiful palace surrounded by extensive grounds where grew the peaches which ripen but once in 3,000 years, conferring immortality on those who eat them. The other box depicts Shoulao, the god of Longevity, as well as the Eight Immortals who represent different conditions in life: poverty, wealth, aristocracy, plebianism, youth, age, masculinity and femininity, a reminder of all that life may bring to the couple.