A ZITAN 'DRAGON' CHEST QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

of rectangular section, deeply carved on the hinged top in varied levels of relief with a five-clawed en face dragon writhing among clouds vying over a 'flaming pearl', flanked by two phoenix swooping in midair and two further dragons beneath, the front and back similarly decorated with two five-clawed dragons striding among clouds confronting a 'flaming pearl', further embellished with a square lock-plate of brass cast with a dragon and a phoenix and set with a ruyi-head clasp in front and two similarly decorated hinges behind, the sides carved with confronting phoenix and dragon and set with bail handles detailed with chilong-head terminals, the tightly grained wood of rich reddish-brown colour with characteristic gold flecks

A much larger box of this type, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 235. For a related box, but carved from hardwood, see one from the collection of Marchese Giuseppe Salvago Raggi, sold in our London rooms, 16^th May 2012, lot 139; and another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1^st December 2010, lot 3018.