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RARE BOÎTE EN LAQUE SCULPTÉE The image skillfully carved with great detail on the cover of
DYNASTIE QING, ÉPOQUE QIANLONG the present box represents a scene from the life of Buddha
Shakyamuni preaching to his Buddhist disciples including
de forme rectangulaire, la partie frontale, coulissant vers le the 500 luohan, the four heavenly guardians and numerous
haut, nement sculpté d’une assemblée composée de saints guanyin (Shijia mouni fo shuofa tu). A subject that is rarely
bouddhistes et de lokapala, présidée par Maitreya, les côtés depicted on three-dimensional objects, it is nevertheless
latéraux et le dessus à décor de dragons à cinq gri es parmi known from carved cinnabar lacquer boxes and covers of
les nuages, la double base lotiforme séparée par un frise de similar shape and design with a sliding cover such as an almost
chevrons et soulignée d’une frise de leiwen, l’intérieur, le identical example formerly in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs.
dessous et le dos laqués noir (2) R. H. Palmer, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
36,9 cm, 14½ in. illustrated in R. Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese
Art. The Minor Arts, vol. II, New York, 1963, pp. 354-355, no.
A very rare superbly carved cinnabar lacquer ‘spirit tablet’ 167, and a box in the collection of the National Palace Museum,
box and cover, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period Taipei, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures
of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty,
15 000-25 000 € Hong Kong, 2006, cat. no. 24. A cover of such another box
128 000-212 000 HK$ 16 400-27 300 US$ decorated with the same subject, was sold at Koller Zurich,
18th September 2010, lot 275.
While the exact function of these rare boxes is not known, it
has been suggested that they may have been designed and
decorated to contain the spirit tablet of a deceased, a practice
whereby the name of the deceased was recorded on a spirit
tablet which were then kept in boxes of similar shape in
temples, taken out to receive prayers and o erings at suitable
festivals, compare Jenyns and Watson, ibid., pl. 355. The
box now in the Victoria and Albert Museum is inscribed and
dedicated to the Qianlong emperor, the box in the National
Palace Museum is similarly inscribed with the Qianlong
emperor’s name. While the present box is not inscribed, we
may assume that it too may have been made for use by the
Qianlong emperor or a high-ranking member of the Imperial
family as the quality of the carving is identical to the two boxes
referred to and the sides are decorated with 5-clawed dragons.
Other view
22 SOTHEBY’S
