A blue and white ‘longevity’ box and cover 17th century | 十七世紀 青花團花捧壽圓蓋盒

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th November 1976, lot 488.

香港蘇富比1976年11月29日，編號488

This skilfully painted box is remarkable for its overall intricate, symmetrical design, which is reminiscent of Western Renaissance ornament. It required careful planning and precise execution, demonstrating the high caliber of craftsmanship of the time. It is unusual to find Buddhist swastika symbols (卍) incorporated into a formal design of this type.

Compare a few related boxes decorated with similar motifs, but lacking the swastika symbols, and of smaller sizes: one with a similar pentagonal floral motif was discovered in the ‘Hatcher Cargo’ which also included a cover inscribed with a cyclical date pertaining to 1643, and sold as part of a group of boxes at Christie's Amsterdam, 12th June 1984, lot 601, and again at Christie’s New York, 16th March 2015, lot 3159; another with a quadrilobed medallion, sold in our New York rooms, 21st March 2018, lot 689; and a further one with interlocking foliate scrolls on the central medallion, also sold in our New York rooms, 6th November 1981, lot 275.

青花蓋盒，紋飾細緻優美，設計對稱和諧，宛似出自西洋文藝復興時期藝術，融合蓮華、花卉、如意、卷葉紋飾，搭配佛教「卍」字，繁複而細膩，畫藝嫻熟精妙，珍稀難得。

比較類同作例，尺寸較小，無「卍」字紋：如一例沉船海撈瓷，紀年1643年，綴五瓣花卉紋，1984年6月12日售於阿姆斯特丹佳士得，編號601，後於2015年3月16日售於紐約佳士得，編號3159。