A carved cinnabar lacquer 'floral' box and cover, Ming dynasty, 15th - 16th century | 明十五至十六世紀 剔紅四季花卉紋長方蓋盒

Densely carved through deep layers of lacquer with Flowers of the Four Seasons – gardenia, peony, chrysanthemum and prunus – the present box represents a classic design of the Ming dynasty.

Compare a two-tiered picnic box with comparable floral scrolls in the Palace Museum, Beijing, attributed to the mid-Ming dynasty, illustrated in Zhongguo qiqi quanji [Complete series on Chinese lacquer], vol. 5, Fujian, 1993, pl. 62, together with two Ming dynasty rectangular boxes with similarly floral designs on the sides, also in the collection of the Palace Museum Beijing, pls 71 and 160.