A FINELY CARVED SPINACH-GREEN AND WHITE JADE BOX AND COVER QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG – JIAQING PERIOD

of ogival section, the four bracket lobed sides of the box and cover carved in relief with floral blooms among leafy vines, divided into two registers by a lattice concealing the join between the two halves of the container, the domed cover surmounted with a raised multi-lobed border inset with a reticulated plaque of four confronted dragons intertwined with swirling clouds all facing a central 'flaming pearl', meticulously carved permitting movement of the dragons within the plaque, the stone of a deep green tone with few dark speckles, wood stand

Christie's Hong Kong, 27th May 2008, lot 1965. 

This ornate piece belongs to a select group of small spinach-green boxes with white jade-inlaid plaques. A closely related box, from the collection of Mrs Samuel T. Peters, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 706; and another, but inset with a gilt-bronze panel of the same design, was sold in our London rooms, 21st November 1961, lot 140.

Further boxes from this group include one of related form, the white jade panel carved with a peony medallion against a diaper ground, sold in our London rooms, 8th November 2006, lot 79; another of circular form, the white plaque carved with a dragon amidst clouds, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo yuqi quanji [Complete collection of Chinese jades], vol. 6, Shijiazhuang, 1993, pl. 104, together with a petal-lobed oval box, pl. 105; and a rectangular box with rounded corners, the plaque with a ruyi-head border, sold at Christie’s London, 5th November 2013, lot 61.

See also a larger spinach-green jade ‘treasure’ box and cover of square lobed form, the sides carved with lotus scrolls and also inlaid with a white jade plaque with a circular wan and shou character surrounded by foliate scrolls, from the collection of Sir Francis Cook, Bart., sold twice in our London rooms, 9th April 1948, lot 166, and 27th March 1962, lot 166; and another, but the white panel carved with a shou medallion surrounded by elaborate lotus scrolls, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th November 2005, lot 1565.