Page 76 - Important Chiense Ceramics and Works of Art, Christie's.pdf

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2920

2920 THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
2921
A CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER METAL-
BODIED CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER A FINELY CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER INCISED AND GILT MARK AND OF THE ‘HUNDRED BOYS’ KANG CABINET
PERIOD (1736-1795) QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
The cover is deeply carved with two scholars accompanied by an The miniature cabinet with a smaller compartment on top and a
attendant in a landscape scene, the sides are carved with a keyfret larger one below opening to reveal a pair of small drawers. The
pattern. The interior of the cover is lacquered black and bears the four- four doors and two sides are finely carved with groups of young
character mark, Fang You Bao He, ‘Treasure box of visiting friends’, the boys variously at play in a terraced garden landscape. Each door is
reign mark is incised and gilt on the base of the box. mounted with gilt-metal handles and hinges cast with scrollwork,
3 æ in. (9.5 cm.) diam. all above a shallow drawer carved similarly to the doors. The top
HK$180,000-250,000 US$24,000-32,000 is decorated with diaper pattern and the interiors and underside
lacquered black. The whole is raised on four gilt-metal feet.
25 ‰ in. (65.7 cm.) high, 15 in. (38 cm.) wide,
᪺̗㡳 㕺൳⣑צ☾〲ۤഢ↥ 6 ¡ in. (16.2 cm.) deep
੧㕺Ǖ૰᪺̗㡳ໞ⽗ǖ᜷ᕋᢎ
HK$200,000-300,000 US$26,000-38,000
Miniature cabinets of this type were made for display on a
kang which served as a seat in the day and a bed at night.
A cabinet of this type carved with figures in landscape is
illustrated in Carved Lacquer in the Collection of the Palace
Museum, Beijing, 1985, pl. 297. While the amusing subject of
‘hundred boys’ is a popular motif on lacquer objects from the
Ming to Qing dynasty, it is rare to find it on lacquer cabinets
with sides also similarly decorated. See a circular box and
cover of the same theme as the present lot in the collection of
the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated in Haiwai
Yichen, Lacquerware, Taipei, 1987, pl. 155.

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2920 (marks)

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