A RARE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER

PROPERTY FROM THE TINGSONGSHUWU COLLECTION

细节

A RARE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER
LATE MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

The flattened surface of the cover well carved with a pheasant perched on a flowering peony branch, the decoration extending towards the narrow sides, the flattened base of the box also carved with leafy branches of magnolia, all against a floral diaper ground, the interior with black lacquer and the body core material of metal, age cracks (small areas of lacquer loss)
3 in. (7.6 cm.) diam., box

拍品专文

Previously sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, November 1984, lot 903.

Boxes that are decorated on both the top and bottom surfaces are rare, with only a few extant examples recorded. Cf. the box included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, 1993, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 70; and another sold in these Rooms, 7 July 2003 (Catalogue dated 28 April 2003), lot 726. All three boxes, including the present example, are heavy for their size, suggesting that the inner core is constructed of metal.