A finely carved large polychrome lacquer circular tray mark and period of Wanli

with shallow rounded sides resting on a short straight foot, very finely carved through thick lacquer of red, yellow and green tones, the central panel with Shoulao riding a spotted deer, accompanied by three young attendants with a crane nearby, under the branches of a pine tree issuing from a rocky cliff, with green diaper-work rising clouds in the near distance, partially obscuring a temple and mountain in the far distance, with red scrolling clouds above the yellow diaper-work sky, the cavetto with four dragons pursuing flaming pearls amid ruyi-head clouds scrolls, the exterior with a red meandering lotus scroll on a yellow ground, a keyfret band encircling the foot, the base incised with a gilt single-line six-character mark 

The present tray with its skilled and deep carving through layers of lacquer in different colours is a fine example of early Wanli lacquer wares which were strongly influenced by Jiajing polychrome lacquer designs. See a Jiajing polychrome dish carved with figures included in the exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat.no. 57; and another dish carved in a similar fashion, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Ancient Chinese Lacquer, Beijing, 1987, pl. 63.

Compare also a circular red lacquer dish decorated with a sage and three attendants, also with a Wanli reign mark and of the period, in the National Museums of Scotland collection, illustrated in Hu Shih-chang and Jane Wilkinson, Chinese Lacquer, Edinburg, 1998, p. 46, pl. 21, where the authors noted that on official Wanli lacquerwares there are three types of engraved and gilded reign marks. The reign mark seen on the present dish, with the six-character mark placed vertically at the centre of the red base, is an example of the earliest marks produced before 1583 following the traditional style of Jiajing and Longqing. Later marks are either made up of eight-characters placed vertically or the more common type of eight-character mark with a cyclical date at the top of the base made after 1583.