QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER GILT-FILLED INCISED MARK IN A LINE AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

A RARE CARVED RED LACQUER CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER
Qianlong six-character gilt-filled incised mark in a line and of the period (1736-1795)
The top well carved with a writhing front-faced, five-clawed dragon coiling around a flaming pearl amidst swirling clouds, the rounded sides carved with two pairs of five-clawed dragons in pursuit of flaming pearls between two narrow bands of key-fret design, the sides of the box carved with rocky outcrops and crashing waves below swirling clouds and bats in flight, all against an ochre ground, the interior and base lacquered black
6in. (15cm.) diam.

Lot Essay

A box of this design, but of slightly smaller size, is illustrated by J. Watt and B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer, The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, p. 108, no. 43. The black base of the Irving box is incised and gilded with a Qianlong reign mark as well as a description of the box: yunlong baohe ('cloud-and-dragon treasure box'). Another box of this design in the Beijing Palace Museum is illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang diaoqi (Carved Lacquer in the Collection of the Palace Museum), Beijing, 1985, no. 316.

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