A rare carved yellow lacquer 'dragon' box and cover, Mark and period of Wanli, Dated Wanli yiwei year, corresponding to 1595 | 明萬曆乙未年（1595年）　剔黃雲龍戲珠紋圓蓋盒　《大明萬曆乙未年製》款

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo. 

Toyama Koenkai Chakai [Tea ceremony at the Toyama Art Club], Toyama, 2014.

Tosetsu / A monthly journal published by the Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 749, May 2015, p. 78.

Nagomi [A monthly magazine by Tankosha], Tankosha, Tokyo, May 2018, p. 30.

This remarkable box belongs to a small group of Wanli lacquer wares that were carved with yellow dragons on a red ground. This group is characterised by extremely fine and deep carving, which has been made possible through the thickness of the lacquer wall that has been built up by numerous layers of lacquer. See a similar box formerly in the collection of Mr Hirota Matsushige, the founder of Kochukyo, and now housed in the Tokyo National Museum, accession no. TH-351.

Yellow lacquer boxes of this form are exceptionally rare, and there appear to be no recorded examples in the collections of Beijing Palace Museum or Taipei Palace Museum; the closest comparable works are found among a small group of yellow lacquer dishes. One example with 'dragon and phoenix' motif can be found in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Xia Gengqi, The Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum: Yuan and Ming Lacquer ware, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 169; and a yellow lacquer plate with mountain, sea, cloud, and dragon designs in the Taipei Palace Museum, illustrated in He guang ti cai [Lacquer ware from the Palace Museum], Taipei, 2008, pl. 97.

Compare two boxes with a black-ground sea and dated to the yiwei year of Wanli (corresponding to 1595), one from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Shanghai, 2006, pl. 169, and the other sold in our New York rooms, 16th/17th September 2014, lot 548. See also a circular dish depicting one dragon amongst similarly rendered clouds above mountains and crashing waves, incised with a yiwei cyclical date, from the Kaisendo Museum, Yamagata, included in the exhibition Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, 1980, cat. no. 2:31, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3572; and another from the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Arts of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1957, cat. no. 264.

The auspicious message of this dish, with the juxtaposition of the five-clawed imperial dragon surrounded by ruyi-shaped clouds, links the ruler to the wish for long life, a wish that is mirrored in the mountains that symbolise longevity and the sea which represents good fortune. The propitious message is carried through even into the colour scheme, where yellow, the imperial colour, is surrounded by red, the colour of good luck.

This rare and auspicious box was also used at a tea ceremony hosted by Kochukyo in Toyama in 2014, celebrating both Kochukyo’s 90th anniversary and then-president Mr Miyajima’s 77th birthday (kiju 喜壽), a significant and joyous milestone in Japanese culture.

來源

壺中居，東京

展覽 

富山後援会茶会，富山，2014年

出版

《陶說》，749期，2015年5月，頁78

《なごみ》，淡交社，東京，2018年5月，頁30

盒平頂，以紅漆為地，滿佈菱花錦地紋，其上一層髹黃漆，減地浮雕降龍趕珠，間以如意雲紋，上下蓋緣皆飾連枝牡丹紋一周，口沿再雕錢花錦地一圈，圈足短直，足圈雕回紋一匝，盒內黑髹，外底朱紅，整器雕工刀法深峻，細刀所到，又出莖葉細密之態，外底近足圈處橫向戧金八字「大明萬曆乙未年製」款。

有明一朝設立二十四衙門，其中「御前作」「御用監」及「內官監」負責為內廷製作日常所需器皿，「御用監」則製作漆器及傢具。目前所見帶明代年號款識的漆器只有永樂、宣德、嘉靖、隆慶、萬曆、天啟和崇禎七朝。萬曆朝之落款又別於前代，款式多樣，頗有自己的風格，既有填金款，又有描金款；既有六字款，又有八字款；既有直款，又有橫款。其中干支紀年款多位於器底內緣正上方。學者統計，漆器上所見萬曆干支紀年款共有十七個年份，其中以壬辰年（1582年）乙未年（1595年）出現最多，可知此二年宮中曾命令大量製作漆器。相關討論參見張榮，《明代御用監造漆器的款識及辨偽款識》，載於《故宮博物院院刊》，2003年，第6期，頁73至81。

剔黃漆器為雕漆中之稀罕品種，此盒雕刻精細，為剔黃漆器中之佳品。髹漆厚重，雕琢細緻深邃為剔黃漆器的特色。壺中居創始人広田松繁藏一例，後贈於東京國立博物館，館藏編號TH-351。

遍索兩岸故宮典藏，未見著錄剔黃蓋盒實例，惟有剔黃盤可資比較。可參考北京故宮藏一件「大明萬曆乙未年造」款剔黃龍鳳紋盤，見夏更起編，《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．元明漆器》，香港，2006年，編號168；及台北故宮藏一件帶同一年款之剔黃山海雲龍紋圓盤，見《和光剔彩—故宮藏漆》，台北，2008年，編號97。

日本根津美術館藏一件，為最似本品之他例，刻「大明萬曆己丑年製」款，見《根津美術館藏品選·工藝篇》，東京，2001年，頁168，編號200。清宮舊藏一件剔彩雙龍紋盒，底刻萬曆己未紀年款，其剔黃紋飾與本器如出一轍，惟以紅色及綠色錦紋為地，錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集．元明漆器》，上海，2006年，圖版169。一例售紐約蘇富比2014年9月16-17日，編號548。一雲龍紋圓盤例，底刻已未紀年款，為日本蟹仙洞博物館舊藏，曾展於《中国美術展シリーズ5 明清の美術》，大阪市立美術館，大阪，1980年，編號2:31，後售於香港佳士2011得年6月1日，編號3572。另一例為 加納爵士伉儷舊藏，曾展於東方陶瓷協會舉辦《Arts of the Ming Dynasty》，倫敦，1957年，編號264。

此盒紋飾寓意吉祥。一雙遊龍張牙瞪眼，毛髮飄舞，身形矯健，遊弋於祥雲之中，目光一致，追逐火珠。足下飾海水江崖，像徵吉慶平安、壽山福海之美願。黃、紅二色為皇家專用色彩，亦寓吉祥之意。黃、紅二色的組合，似有仿效嘉靖黃地紅彩雲龍紋罐之意，紋飾風格一脈相承，便可悉各作坊之間交流不絕、互促啓思。

此蓋盒亦於2014年用於富山後援会茶会，以慶祝壺中居創立90週年，以及時任會長宮島先生的77歲喜壽。