A GILT-BRONZE AND GILT-SILVER AGATE-INSET BOX QING DYNASTY |

the rectangular box supported on four lion feet, consists of a gilt-bronze frame decorated with archaistic dragons, the sides inset with agate plaques, the cover set with a gilt-silver carp emerging from cresting waves, the cover further surmounted by an aossociated gilt-bronze duck

Treasured for its colour and pattern, agate is one of several hardstones that were valued as much as jade and is recorded as being used from as early as the Han dynasty. The practice of embellishing Asian works of art with silver or gilt-bronze mounts became popular in the Qing dynasty and reflected the cultural exchange between the East and the West at the time as Western elements were incorporated in Chinese works of art.