A RARE BLACK LACQUER BOX AND COVER YUAN DYNASTY, 14TH CENTURY |

the canted sides divided into eight lobes, intricately carved through multiple layers of black lacquer against an ochre ground, the flat top with a lobed cartouche enclosing a swooping goose below a surging falcon amongst a lotus pond densely populated with broad lotus leaves with furled edges, large podding blooms, arrowheads and leafy millet, each bird finely incised with plumage, the stepped sides of the cover and box similarly decorated with shaped panels enclosing pairs of floral blooms borne on leafy stems, including lotus, magnolia, camellia, gardenia, peony, hibiscus, mallow, prunus and narcissus, above a key-fret border around the foot, the interior and base lacquered in black, inscribed on the Japanese wood box with an attribution to Yang Mao

Christie's New York, 26th March 2003, lot 15.

The box and cover are structurally intact. As expected with its age and fragility, there is flaking and bruising to the lacquer, particularly visible on the base, with other areas restored. Age cracks throughout, especially visible on the base and interiors.
"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."

It is extremely rare to find early lacquer boxes of this form and no other closely related example appears to have been published. Masterfully carved, it exemplifies the decorative arts of the Yuan dynasty which can be characterised by an emphasis on modelling and the complexity of surface decoration. The craftsman has cut deep into the numerous layers of lacquer that have been built high on a yellow ground, some of which is left exposed to provide an attractive contrast with the rich black lacquer which has been finished to a smooth sheen characteristic of the period. It represents the fully developed style of the Yuan period when carved lacquer ware was typically produced in high relief and pictorial devices such as foreshortening and overlapping were translated into the language of relief carving. Fine incisions on leaves and petals, to indicate veins, was also used as a technique to bring texture into the composition. The design of the present box is also notable. While the subject of two birds flying amidst flowers was a popular motif on lacquer ware from the Song dynasty, the present box presents a rare variation of the motif. Instead of placing the birds opposite each other and surrounding them with an abstract arrangement of blooming flower heads and leaves, the present scene depicts lotus flowers and leaves and water weeds emerging from the bottom. They exhibit the same style of depiction and movement as blue and white decorated porcelain wares of the period. Only one other lacquer dish with a similar composition appears to have been published, now in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, pl. 44.

Boxes of the Yuan dynasty that featured the more typical ‘two-bird’ design and floral bands on the sides were created in a variety of forms, of which the present is a large example; see a circular box of similar size and slightly domed form, the central scene encircled by a scroll border, attributed to the late thirteenth century, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, from the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr Fund, inventory no. 2011.34. Compare also a quatre-lobed nine-tiered cinnabar lacquer box, offered in these rooms, 8th April 2007, lot 741; a six-tiered square box, in the Kaisendo Museum, Yamagata Prefecture, included in the exhibition Carved Lacquer,  Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, and Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 1984, cat. no. 45; another sold twice at Christie’s Hong Kong, 13th January 1987, lot 262, and 1st December 2009, lot 1816, from the Lee Family collection; and a circular box attributed to the late Song or early Yuan period, included in the exhibition Chinese Carved Lacquerworks of the Song Dynasty, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 2004, cat. no. 34, together with a square box illustrating a landscape scene, cat. no. 35. See also a large stationery box carved with a medley of flowers and fruit in black lacquer against a red diaper ground, sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3139.

Compare black lacquer dishes fashioned in a related style, but depicting the ‘two-bird’ design, such as two from the Florence and Herbert Irving collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, displayed in the Museum’s exhibition East Asian Lacquer. The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, 1991, cat. nos 18 and 20; one included in the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong exhibition 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 35; and another in the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, published in Michael Knight, East Asian Lacquers in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1992, pl. 6. For a Song dynasty prototype, carved with a simpler design and less overlapping elements, see one from the collections of Honganji temple, Kyoto, and Sakamoto Goro, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 151.