A MAGNIFICENT AND EXTREMELY RARE BLACK LACQUER MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAID THREE-TIERED SQUARE BOX AND COVER YUAN DYNASTY

of three-tiered square section with cusped corners and straight sides, supported on a slightly recessed splayed foot, skilfully inlaid overall in slivers of mother-of-pearl on a black lacquer ground, the raised top with a scholar arriving at a mansion with two pavilions with several attendants in the courtyard, all surrounded by cartouches enclosing figural scenes against a rural landscape on the curved sloping sides, the straight exterior walls with further similar cartouches, all reserved on a ground of interlocking circles, the sloped sides and straight foot detailed with further cartouches enclosing scenes of plants and animals respectively, all above a band of dots bordering the foot, the interior and base lacquered brownish-black save for the cinnabar top of the middle tray

2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 92.
Layered Beauty: The Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese Lacquer, Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2010, cat. no. 26.

There are age cracks to the surface, especially the cover, and bruises to the inner flanges of the boxes.Minor chips and losses to the lacquer at the corners. As visible in the catalogue photos, there are minor losses to the fragile areas, as expected of a piece of this age and delicacy.On the cover, the head of a figure on the top left is lost, and several of the robes and an additional female figure's head on the sides. Upper tiered tray: losses to a head of one figure, and to robes. Age cracks to the interior.Bruising to the flanges. Lower box: losses to robes and other minor details. Age cracks to the interior, and bruising to the foot.
"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."

Intricately inlaid with a scene of figures in a courtyard, the present design was most probably inspired by woodblock illustrations of the period as indicated by the linearity of the composition. It is interesting to note that the craftsman has chosen to include minor details characteristic of woodblock prints to enhance the naturalism of the scene, such as the character shu (book) inscribed on the book carried by the boy on horseback and the rectangular object held by a man in the top right corner, the horse incised with a rabbit and star on its saddle and rear leg, and the hot cup of tea that has been hurriedly abandoned by its drinker, as indicated by the lines of steam rising from it.

The use of shell inlay was already in use during the Tang dynasty (618-907), when mirrors and boxes were adorned with large pieces that were finely incised for added detail. The Song craftsman employed wafer-thin shells that allowed the creation of complex pictorial scenes, which included architectural details as well as human figures with identifiable facial expressions. This technique reached new heights during the Yuan dynasty. The Ge gu yao lun (The Essential Criteria of Antiquities), written in 1387 by Cao Zhao, mentions that mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer was produced in Jiangxi province and was popular amongst wealthy families during the Yuan dynasty and that it was made in the customer’s home in order to allow him to control quality. It also records that these Yuan pieces were favoured by the early Ming court to the degree that some were confiscated from a collector in the early Hongwu period (see Sir Percival David, Chinese Connoisseurship: The Ko Ku Yao Lun. The Essential Criteria of Antiquities, New York, 1971, pp 148-149).

A tiered box of this type, but of quatrefoil shape, was included in the exhibition Mother-of-Pearl Inlay in Chinese Lacquer Art, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 1979, cat. no. 21; and another was exhibited in East Asian Lacquer. The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, cat. no. 58. Compare also a lobed box, in the Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, included in the exhibition The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China, Tokyo, 2004, cat. no. 131; and another of multi-lobed shape, exhibited in From Innovation to Conformity. Chinese Lacquer from the 13th to 16th Centuries, Bluett & Sons, London, 1989, cat. no. 30.