A LARGE 'QIANGJIN' AND 'TIANQI' CINNABAR LACQUER 'DRAGON' BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD

of lobed form supported on a short foot of conforming section, the cover incised on the red lacquer ground with a five-clawed en face dragon writhing around a 'flaming pearl', surrounded by four further dragons striding among billowing clouds, each detailed with a sinuous scaly body and long mane accented in black enamel, all within a black border of key-fret, the sixteen lobes similarly decorated each with a five-clawed dragon chasing a 'flaming pearl', above confronted bats encircling the raised rims and jagged rocks battered by crested waves surrounding the box, the interior and base lacquered in black, the footring picked out with leiwen, the base incised with an apocryphal eight-character Wanli mark in gilt

A 14.5 x 5.5 cm. section of the cover rim is broken and restored with associated cracks extending onto the interior of the cover. There is another 11 cm crack on the opposite side of the cover which extended horizontally on approx 15 cm and has been secured with further extending crackles on the interior. The cover may have some relacquering. The box also has several cracks extending from the rim and relacquered chips to the inner rim. There are some relacquered chips to the footrim.
"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."

Compare a box of this type in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Zhongguo qiqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese lacquer], vol. 6, Fuzhou, 1993, pl. 138; one in the Museum of East Asian Art, Berlin, illustrated in Regina Krahl, ‘Imperial Chinese Lacquer in Berlin’, Orientations, October 2000, p. 89, pl. 12; another in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition The Arts of the Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1965, cat. no. 377; and a fourth box sold in our New York rooms, 21st/22nd September 2005, lot 194.

For the possible inspiration of this type of box, see a similarly lacquered and gilded five-lobed box, bearing an eight-character inscription, da Ming Wanli dingwei nian zhi (corresponding to AD 1607), in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Zhongguo meishu quanji [Anthology of Chinese art], vol. 8, Beijing, 1989, pl. 137; and a related box, in the Museum Kaisendo, Yamagata, included in the exhibition Ch’iang-chin, Chinkin and Zonsei Lacquerwares, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1974, cat. no. 61. See lot 172 in the present sale for a similarly shaped box.