Page 24 - Sotheby's Paris Arts D' Asia, June 11, 2019

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RARE BOÎTE COUVERTE EN FORME
DE ‘DOUBLE-LOSANGES’ À QUATRE
COMPARTIMENTS EN LAQUE SCULPTÉE
DYNASTIE QING, ÉPOQUE QIANLONG

le couvercle finement sculpté de deux dragons à cinq griffes
affrontés encerclant la perle enflammée sur fond de vagues,
ceint d’une frise de leiwen, les côtés à décor de cartouches
quadrilobés contenant des compositions de vase fleuris et
objets de lettrés, les angles à décor de fleurs de lotus, le
socle de forme analogue décoré de formes géométriques
reposant sur six pieds ruyiformes et surmontés d’une frise
saillante de leiwen (5)
Larg. 28,6 cm, Width 11¼ in.
A rare well-carved cinnabar lacquer tiered double lozenge-
shaped box and cover, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period

40 000-60 000 €
350 000-525 000HK$ 44 600-67 000 US$
清乾隆 剔紅雙龍戲珠紋方勝式三撞套盒

This box is remarkable for its symmetrical design of two
meticulously carved dragons, their vigorous scaly bodies
rising and falling among waves and their arms and claws
outstretched towards a flaming pearl in the form of a shou
(longevity) character. Crisply carved in different levels of
relief, the lozenge shape of the box further heightens the
dynamism of the scene. Known as fang sheng (double
lozenge), lacquer boxes of this form were first made in
Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Compare, for example, a Jiajing
mark and period box, decorated in the qiangjin and tianqi
technique with a dragon and phoenix, in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures
of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming
Dynasties, Shanghai, 2006, pl. 151.
A closely related box in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
was included in the exhibition Gugong qiqi tezhan mulu
[Catalogue of the special exhibition of lacquerware in the
National Palace Museum], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 57; two tiered
boxes of this shaped were sold at Christie’s New York, the
first, 6th May 1980, lot 248, the second, 20th March 2001, lot
81; yest another example was sold in Christie’s Hong Kong,
29th November 2005, lot 1562.

22 SOTHEBY’S ARTS D’ASIE