A RARE CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' BOX MING DYNASTY, WANLI PERIOD, WITH QIANLONG INSCRIPTION, CORRESPONDING TO THE DATE 1784

of rectangular form with notched corners, the cover finely carved with a dragon and phoenix rising above crashing waves and encircling a flaming pearl in mid-air, the sides divided into panels each carved with a lingzhi scroll bordered with a lotus scroll, the sides of the base similarly carved with lingzhi  and lotus scroll, the interior of the cover inscribed with an imperial poem dated to the jiachen year, corresponding to the date 1784 and two seals reading guxi tianzi zibao and youri zizi

The base has faint traces of an effaced Wanli cyclical mark reading "Wanli Renwu Nianzhi", corresponding to 1582. To the cover, there is a loss of approx 2.3 by 1cm (now missing) to the top right hand corner, as visible in the catalogue on p. 237. To the box, there are chips to the interior rim, the largest of approx 3 by 0.8cm,and another to the outer edge of of approx 0.9 by 0.8cm. Some of the consolidated chips along the edges of the box and cover have been covered by old repairs and there are expected age cracks throughout. Otherwise, the piece is overall in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This covered box is inscribed with a poem by the Qianlong emperor written in the jiachen year of his reign (equivalent to 1784). The poem is recorded in the Yuzhi shiji (Imperial Poetry Collection) compiled in the Siku quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), fifth collection (ji), 7:6a-6b, and can be translated as follows:

Zhizhong was really good at carving seals,
And Shoucheng was his father's true successor.
Days last long spent reading the Yi Jing.
Gallant and unconventional residing temporarily in Qin.
He Zhen was a successful disciple of a master,
While Gan Yang learned everything all on his own.
Elegantly gathered the beauty these four created,
Are precedents among Dong's paintings well worth following.

Zhizhong was the secondary personal name of Wen Zhengming (1470-1559). Shoucheng was the personal name of Wen Peng  (1498-1573) who was the eldest son of Wen Zhengming, and, like his father,  a fine painter, calligrapher and seal carver. He Zhen (1522-1604) was a was a renowned seal engraver. Gan Yang was a famous seal carver active during the Wanli era of the Ming (1573-1620).  Dong refers to Dong Qichang (1555-1636), one of the greatest of late Ming painters and art theorists / critics.

Wanli boxes of this elegant form and carved decoration are rare although a very similar box and cover, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Carved Lacquer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, 1985, pl. 238. Another box of the same form and decoration, gilt incised with the eight characters Da Ming Wanli renchen nianzhi, made in the renchen year of the Wanli reign, and included in Fritz Low-Beer, 'Chinese Lacquer of the Middle and Late Ming Period', Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm Bulletin, no. 24, 1952, p. 35, pl. 24, figs. 89-90, was sold at Christie's London, 9^th June 1975, lot 121. The cyclical date carved on the box corresponds to 1592. See another Wanli box of this type, made in the same renchen year, but carved with the motif of two confronting dragons chasing a flaming pearl instead of the dragon and phoenix design, also in the Palace Museum, published in Zhongguo qiqi quanji, vol. 5, Fuzhou, 1995, pl. 139; and another box dated to 1595, decorated with the design of a large ferocious front-facing scaly dragon on the cover, in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, included in Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, pl. 88.

Lacquer boxes copying the Wanli form were also made in the Qianlong period. For example see a polychrome lacquer box and cover decorated with the pattern of eight cranes, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 80.

The phoenix and dragon are considered two of the most auspicious mythical animals in China. Together they represent good fortune and blessings and are the symbols for the emperor and empress and marital bliss. The Chinese words for dragon (long) and phoenix (feng) together form the pun 'longfeng chengxiang' which can be translated as 'dragon and phoenix are a happy omen'.