A FINELY CARVED INLAID ZITAN RECTANGULAR BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

of rectangular section, the cover carved with an animated scene of three men on horseback riding through a densely vegetated rocky landscape with pine and bamboo issuing from rocky outcrops, one figure looking back with his bow fully drawn preparing to fire an arrow, the sides carved with a naturalistic floral border above a keyfret band at the rim inlaid with silver wire, the sides of the box similarly decorated, the wood dark brown in tone with dark purple tinges

It is rare to find zitan pieces with figural decoration.  More often, carved pieces have dense floral and naturalistic elements typically like the side panels of this box.  The figural subject of archers on horseback can be see on bamboo brushpots of this period.  See three examples illustrated in The National Museum of History, The Art of Bamboo Carving, Taipei, 1991, pp. 71-73.