AN EXTREMELY RARE 'IMPERIAL-YELLOW DRAGON' POLYCHROME LACQUER BOX AND COVER WANLI MARK AND PERIOD, DATED TO THE YIWEI YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1595

of rectangular form with rounded sides and cusped corners, deftly carved in varied levels of relief through the ochre-yellow lacquer to the green and red layers below, with two five-clawed dragons contesting a 'flaming pearl' among clouds and above rocks battered by crested waves, all reserved on a ground of red floral diapers and green undulating waves, the sides with composite floral scrolls of peony, the box similarly decorated with floral cartouches recessed on a lotus scroll-ground above a border of key-fret around the foot, the interior and base lacquered red, incised partially erased reign mark in gilt, Japanese wood box (4)

Old Japanese Collection. 

There are scattered age appropriate cracks and minor nicks along the surface stabilized with fill around the rim. The interiors with further filled stabilizing restoration. Consolidated repairs to corners of 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Two closely related pieces, perhaps from the same set, one a box with almost identical design and shape (but with the fifth claw later removed) also dated to the Wanli yiwei year in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 45 - Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 212, no. 169; the other, a tray with ochre-yellow colored dragons with the same design as the cover of the present box, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors. Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p. 112, no. 100 (fig. 1). The tray also bears a partially erased inscription of Wanli yiwei corresponding to 1595, but in addition, has a later added Yongle mark. 

Boxes of this type with indented corners were popular in the Wanli reign and were produced both in porcelain and lacquer until the end of the Ming dynasty. A similar box but in red lacquer and with four-clawed dragons rather than five, was included in the exhibition East Asian Lacquer. The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, p. 102, no. 37, where it is noted that these boxes were used principally as presentation boxes that held important documents or gifts, and might have also been made as gifts presented to lower orders of nobility. Compare, also, another box of almost identical shape and design in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated in Chinese Art in Overseas Collections: Lacquerware, Taipei, 1987, p. 124, no. 121.  See also a similarly shaped and carved polychrome 'dragon' box dated to the Wanli renchen year from the Sakamoto Goro Collection sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 160.