A very rare pair of inscribed lacquered wood storage chests with bronze mounts China or Tibet, early Ming Dynasty, 14th / 15th century

each of rectangular form, finely decorated in qiangjin technique with a pair of writhing dragons grasping large flaming pearls within their powerful claws and turning back towards a large stylised lotus flower bursting into flames and borne on a lotus base, all set against clouds and large further lotus with feathery leaves, within a classic scroll border, with the Eight Buddhist Emblems borne on lotus scroll divided four on each short side within cloud borders, and repeated on the top of the hinged cover encircling a rectangular cartouche inscribed with three lines, in Sanskrit, a transliteration in Tibetan alphabet and the third in Ume or cursive Tibetan, all framed by classic scoll on the canted top edges and cloud borders at the sides, the thick bronze mounts of superb quality, set at the corners and middle of each long side with fittings formed by bisected quatrefoil ruyi-heads, with long straps rising up the cover, the lockplate clasp incised with endless knot, lotus and scrolls and the hinges and other fittings incised with scrolling lotus on a punched ground, the heavy bail handles secured by loops issuing from florets, the interior finished in gilt yellow lacquer

Storage accoutrements for Sino-Tibetan Buddhist ritual objects are extremely rare, and it is interesting to note that the size and proportions of the present chests appear ideal for sutra texts with their lacquered wood covers, which would have been wrapped in textiles, placed inside and secured by the protecting mantras inscribed on the covers of the chests.

It is also interesting to note that the combination of the motifs of the dragons with 'flaming pearls' and the Eight Buddhist Emblems appears to be very rare, and the particular representation of the dragons themselves, with their large heads, fully articulated limbs and richly varied scales, appears to be an unusual and much more powerful variant of the sinuous Yuan dynasty dragon, with its small snake-like head. This atypical representation of the dragon appears to be unique.

By the early fifteenth century, in the first year of the Yongle emperor's reign, attempts to consolidate ties with the various Tibetan Buddhist sects were already initiated. The emperor had a famously celebrated relationship with the fifth Black Hat Karmapa, Dezhin Shegpa, and upon his visit to Nanjing in 1406, many rolls of silks and damasks, texts and materials of precious metals were exchanged as gifts, and stylistic elements of both Tibetan and Chinese schools of art were correspondingly interchanged. In the fine metalwork and the decorative elements on the present pair of chests, the resulting influence of the Tibetan school can clearly be traced.