A RARE FINELY CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER TRAY MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY

of bat-shape, with shallow rounded sides resting on a short foot, well carved through the red lacquer to the interior with a central panel of conforming shape enclosing a scene of four boys at play on a courtyard terrace, amid prunus blossoms and rockwork issuing plantain trees and other garden plants and shrubs, all under the the moonlight and cloud swirls, the sides carved with cranes flying amid cloud swirls, the exterior with a leafy floral scroll, the base lacquered black

A Private Japanese Collection.