AN EARLY CARVED BLACK TIXI LACQUER BOX AND COVER YUAN / EARLY MING DYNASTY

the circular cover carved with a central stylised flowerhead, surrounded by five large sword pommel motifs which continue around the sides, the sides of the box with matching design, all carved through dark brownish-black lacquer alternating with two layers of red, the insides and base lacquered black

From the Collection of Mrs Virginia K. Chow.

One Man's Taste, Treasures from the Lakeside Pavilion, at the Galleries of the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1988-9, Catalogue no. L23.

The same design, very similarly proportioned, appears inside a dish included in the Exhibition of East Asian Lacquer, The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, Catalogue, no. 9, attributed by Watt and Ford to the late Yuan to early Ming period, late 14th century.