A rare gilt-incised 'qiangjin' and 'tianqi' lacquer 'dragon' square dish, Mark and period of Wanli, dated xinmao year, corresponding to 1591 | 明萬曆辛卯（1591年） 戧金填漆龍紋倭角方盤 《大明萬曆辛卯年製》款

Japanese Private Collection.

日本私人收藏

The current dish is an extremely rare example of the developments in lacquer decorative techniques during the late Ming period, which combined two methods, tianqi and qiangjin, for use on imperial lacquer and also employs the very rare technique of the use of silver on lacquer. The tianqi method, or 'in-filled lacquer', consists of filling outlined areas with different-colored lacquer, thereby defining the detailed pattern. In contrast, qiangjin involves the inlaying of thin gold leaf into finely-incised designs onto a lacquer foundation. This latter technique was popular during the Yongle period, and can be seen on red-lacquered sutra covers where the surfaces have been ornately decorated in gilt; for example see one included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 79.

A circular Wanli reign-marked dish of related form and decorative lacquer technique was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2013, lot 158, from the collection of Sakamoto Goro. Compare another bearing a Wanli yiwei cyclical date (1595) from the Lee Family Collection, was included in the exhibition Dragon and Phoenix. Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, 1990, cat. no. 81; another, also dated 1595, included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, op.cit., cat. no. 84; and a third, with a cyclical date renchen (1592), sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27th April 2003, lot 291.