A VERY RARE CARVED POLYCHROME LACQUER 'KNICK-KNACK PEDDLER' BOX AND COVER JIAJING MARK AND PERIOD

the straight-sided domed cover finely carved through the cinnabar, yellow and green lacquer with a raised medallion of eight children surrounding a jovial and bearded peddler carrying a massive horn-like yoke on his back from which is strapped a pair of rattan arches, each balancing a large balustraded square basket filled with carved lacquer vases, food containers and tall rattan canes suspending strings of scarves, hats and combs, flanking a tall umbrella festooned with numerous pendants temptingly hung with puppets and chimes, the peddler holding a vase and receiving a coin from a child while another holds a newly purchased vase, on the other side a boy prancing with a string puppet whilst his companions beat time with cymbals and a mask, all set in a garden, against a yellow and green floret diaper pattern ascending to a wave-patterned middle ground and a keyfret 'air' patterned sky, the rounded shoulder carved with four striding dragons amidst clouds separated by Islands of Paradise, between narrow bands of floret diaper and wan-fret diaper just before a wide diamond and prunus border, together with a box with an incised and gilded six-character vertical mark of Jiajing to the base and carved with a matching design of dragons and floret diaper, the interior of box and cover lacquered a dark brown (2)

Acquired in Europe in the 19th century.
Thereafter in the family by descent.

The cover: cracks in a "T" form. The fifth claw of each dragon is removed. Losses to dragon band, including one large 1 1/2 inch patch at 5 o'clock and another 1 inch patch at 12 o'clock. There are characteristic age and stress cracks throughout. The main medallion in good condition but for minor and characteristic hairline cracks, on umbrella, the left basket, and around the foliate border. The interior with age cracks. The box: The fifth claw of all the dragons have been removed. There are sevral stress cracks along the foliate diaper band. The mouthrim has possibly been relacquered. There are several star cracks and fissures, one with associated loss, exposing the netting underneath.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The subject of the Knick-knack Peddler is a well known subject in Chinese painting, notably the painting by Li Song dated 1210 (Fig. 1), illustrated in Possessing the Past. Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1996, cat. no. 84, to whom at least four versions are attributed and which was copied and re-interpreted by many later artists. James Cahill notes that in the painting, Li Song has written 'not only his signature and the date but also three tiny characters, nearly hidden on the tree trunk at the upper left, which translates as "five hundred articles", referring with well-justified pride to the number of individual objects he has managed to crowd into the two multilayered baskets that the peddler carries on a pole over his shoulders,' ibid, p. 179.

This charming motif  would seem to be the ultimate challenge to the artist's skill at composition and requiring virtuose technical skills, and is extremely rare on carved lacquer. A lacquer box and cover of exactly the same size, bearing  an incised Jiajing  mark and of the period, the cover exquisitely carved with this motif, but differing in composition, with similar borders of diaper and dragons, was sold in our London rooms, 7th June 2000, lot 51. It was later paired with another box of this subject and exhibited in Oriental Arts UK, New York, 2002, cat. no. 22. The current box shares with the latter a similarity of 'inventory' such as brocade balls, combs, stacked food boxes and tasseled  pendants, as well as the striped socks worn by the peddler and  the characteristic large heads of the boys. The umbrella in the present piece with its tasseled pendant emblems is also an interesting departure from the other interpretations of this motif but is typical of the pendants decorating blue and white porcelain of the period.

Only one lacquer piece of Jiajing mark and period and carved with this motif is recorded, a dish in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ching Dynasties, Vol 45, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 129.

Another dish was in the exhibition catalogue, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 57, where it is noted that the four five-clawed dragons have had a claw each removed, similar to the dragons on the cover of the current piece.