Lot 22
  • 22

A CINNABAR LACQUER SEAL PASTE BOX AND COVER MING DYNASTY, YONGLE PERIOD

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Lacquer
of circular form, intricately carved through rich layers of red lacquer to reveal the ochre-yellow ground, the domed cover with a camellia blossom borne on scrolling stems issuing smaller blooms and opening buds, the shallow sides of the box similarly decorated, the interior and base lacquered dark brown, the original six-character Yongle mark on one side of the base obscured and later incised with a six-character Xuande mark in gilt, Japanese wood box

Condition

The box and cover are in good condition with the exception of restoration to a circa 6cm., wide crescent-shaped crack (or possible break) on the rim of the cover, restoration to the rim with an associated horizontal crack running across the underside of the cover, light cracking and crazing to the rims of the box and cover with associated refreshing of the red and black lacquer, light crazing to the black lacquer interior of the box and cover.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This exquisite box is one of the rare courtly objects from the early Ming dynasty that appears to have been appreciated by both the Yongle and Xuande (1426-35) emperors. As new imperial artefacts would be produced in virtually every Ming reign, the new emperors typically relegated wares of their predecessors to storage. Carved lacquer, however, far more precious and laborious to create than porcelain, for example, could pass from emperor to emperor. This box was probably commissioned sometime during the Yongle Emperor’s reign, whose reign name was thinly engraved, and eventually finished or taken over during the Xuande period, whose gilded reign mark was superimposed on top.

 

Two lacquer boxes similarly carved with flower blooms and also inscribed with a Xuande reign mark over the Yongle original, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, are illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Shanghai, 2006, pls 48 and 49; and another, but of cylindrical form, in the Fujita Art Museum, Osaka, was included in The Special Exhibition of Oriental Lacquer Arts, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1977, cat. no. 507. Compare Yongle mark and period boxes of this type; such as three in the Palace Museum, included op. cit., pls 50, 52 and 54; one in the British Museum, London, included in the Museum’s exhibition Ming. 50 Years that Changed China, London, 2014, cat. no. 226; one from the Baoyizhai collection, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 42; another sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2009, lot 1682; and a further box, from the Lee family collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2116.

 

The present box is also notable for its fine design of camellia blossoms, which has been carved in varying levels of relief. Carved lacquer ware with such thick coating required the gradual build-up of thin lacquer layers, each of which needed to dry before being polished and the next layer applied on top. Gao Lian, a literary merchant active in the 16th century, in his Yanxian qingshang jian, suggests that ’during the Yong-lo era of the Ming dynasty, the government operated a lacquer ware works known as the “Kuo Yuan Ch’ang”. The lacquer ware that is produced was given approximately 36 coats… The carving work was exquisitely done’ (see Masterpieces of Chinese Carved Lacquer Ware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, p. 77).