A RARE THREE-COLOUR NINE DRAGON CINNABAR LACQUER BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD
QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD
LOT SOLD.
100,000 GBP
Details & Cataloguing
Important Chinese Art
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London
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A RARE THREE-COLOUR NINE DRAGON CINNABAR LACQUER BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD
QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD
finely carved in various levels of relief with a frontal five-clawed dragon to the upper surface of the cover, pursuing a flaming pearl amongst trailing clouds, within a keyfret and lappet border, above a wide band of further dragons pursuing flaming pearls above a keyfret band, the box similarly carved with dragons above breaking waves, all on a yellow ground, the base with a six-character mark in gilt, the interior of the cover inscribed jiu long bao he (a treasured box of nine dragons)
Quantity: 2
28.5 cm, 11 1/4 in.
Read Condition Report
Read Condition Report
Quantity: 2
28.5 cm, 11 1/4 in.
Catalogue Note
Intricately carved with a complex design of nine dynamic dragons striding in pursuit of flaming pearls, the present piece reveals the opulent taste of the Qianlong Emperor and the zenith of lacquer carving achieved during his reign. Rendered with ferocious expressions, gaping jaws that reveal sharp fangs, bulbous eyes and flaring nostrils, the muscular dragons thrash through the clouds to create a brilliant scene of intense strength and energy. Moreover the deep carving and use of three contrasting colours, accentuates the sense of movement and three-dimensionality.
Boxes of this quality and carved with this motif were produced at the Lacquer Workshops of the Zaobanchu (Imperial Palace Workshop), located in the Forbidden City. They are often inscribed with a Qianlong reign mark at the foot and under the cover with a descriptive mark, as seen on this piece. A smaller box of this type in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in East Asian Lacquer. The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, p. 108, pl. 108, where the authors suggest that ‘the description probably corresponded to the entry for the box in the inventory of articles in the imperial household’.
A closely related box was sold in these rooms, 27th October 1989, lot 177; and two were sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, the first, 16th January 1989, lot 347, and the second, 27th October 2003, lot 785. Compare also a smaller Qianlong mark and period box carved with this design, but inscribed under the cover with the characters yunlong baohe (cloud-and-dragon treasure box), in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan cang diaoqi [Carved lacquer in the Palace Museum], Beijing, 1985, pl. 316; and another sold at Christie’s New York, 18th September 2003, lot 79.
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