Page 220 - Christie's IMPORTANT CHINESE Ceramics and Works of Art may 28 2021 hk

3030

AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND FINELY CARVED
IMPERIAL CINNABAR LACQUER ‘BUDDHIST ASSEMBLY’
SCRIPTURE BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The sliding cover is superbly carved through thick layers of cinnabar lacquer to an ochre
ground with an elaborate scene depicting Buddha Shakyamuni preaching in an assembly
to his disciples including bodhisattvas, luohans, andheavenly guardians. The narrow sides are
each carved with five-clawed dragons amidst dense scrolling clouds. The box is raised on a
double-lotus base.
14Ω in. (36.9 cm.) long
HK$6,500,000-8,000,000 US$840,000-1,000,000
PROVENANCE
Sold at Sotheby’s Paris, 22 June 2017, lot 122

清乾隆 御製剔紅釋迦牟尼說法圖經匣
來源
巴黎蘇富比，2017 年 6 月 22 日，拍品 122 號
The exceptional workmanship seen on the current scripture box, characterised by its complex
composition, meticulous details and careful execution, makes it a true masterpiece of 18th
century Imperial lacquer work. Palace records reveal that the Qianlong Emperor took the
production of lacquer scripture boxes to heart and made very specific instructions regarding
their design. On the 15th day of 11th month of Qianlong eighth year (1743), the Emperor decreed
that ‘A draft for a polychrome carved lacquer scripture box should be drawn. Make sure figures
of Buddha, bodhisattvas, guardian deities and Luohans are included in the design. The sides
should be decorated with dragons. The back should have two dragons supporting a Qianlong
reign mark’. On the 28th day of 12th month of the same year, a draft of the Buddhist scripture
box was submitted and approved. The finished work was presented in the following year. The
design of the current box follows closely the detailed instructions requested by the Qianlong
Emperor.
The Emperor also specified the quantity of scripture boxes to be made. On the 26th day of
10th month of Qianlong ninth year (1744), he ordered six Daoist and twenty Buddhist lacquer
scripture boxes to be made. He was also very particular about the size and thickness of these
boxes. On the 23rd day of 8th month of Qianlong twenty-fourth year (1759), a carved cinnabar
lacquer scripture box was sent from Jehol to the workshop in Suzhou, with orders commanding
that a new one was to be replicated with the exact size, thickness, shape and decoration.
These precious boxes were made in such limited quantity that towards the later years, when
the use of scripture boxes was required, the palace had to request existing boxes to be repaired
instead of placing new orders. On the 27th day of 9th month of Qianlong twenty-sixth year (1761),
two carved lacquer scripture boxes were sent from the palace to be repaired. It was decreed
that ‘an earlier order for the manufacture of a new box can be disregarded.’ The current box with
its back possibly being refreshed, likely belongs to this small group which was treasured and
conserved by palace orders.
The same design of the current box, depicting Buddha Shakyamuni preaching to an assembly
of followers, can be found on a square cinnabar lacquer box, carved on the other side with
characters specifying the box was to contain the Shurangama Sutra personally written by the
Qianlong Emperor, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Qing
Dynasty, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 24
(fig. 1). Another box of almost identical design, form and size, but carved with a Qianlong mark
on the back, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, published in R.Soame Jenyns &
William Watson, Chinese Art, the Minor Arts: Gold, Silver etc, New York, 1963, pl.167.
A closely related Qianlong-marked cinnabar lacquer scripture box of the same shape and structure,
but carved with a Daoist assembly on the main side, was formerly in the Irving Collection, sold at
Christie’s New York, 20 March 2019, lot 809 (price realised USD1,035,000) (fig. 2).