Page 58 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Scholars Art Of China

2830 Continued

The current box is exceptionally impressive not only because of its large size
and superb carving, but also of its unusual subject of immortals gathering in a
Daoist paradise, which suggests the box was possibly made as a birthday gift
conveying the wish for longevity. While a few Yongle-marked lacquer boxes
with figural scenes have survived, very few of them are of this size, and most
of them depict literati scenes with simpler composition, comprising fewer
figures and architectural elements. Only one example of the same design is
known, which is a box with almost identical decorations and size, also dating
to the Yongle period, in the Aberdeen City Museum, illustrated in Derek
Clifford, Chinese Carved Lacquer, London, 1992, pl. 34 (fig. 1).
Court records reveal that an official lacquer workshop known as Guoyuan
chang (Orchard Workshop) was established in Beijing during the Yongle reign.
Carved lacquer wares made during the Yongle period were considered some
of the most desirable, distinguished by their unusually thick layers, which
sometimes could reach 300, and masterful carving allowing for complex and
multi-layered patterns. The remarkably elaborate scene and thick layers seen
on the current box are characteristic of the finest imperial pieces made by the
Guoyuan chang during the Yongle period.
Compare to a Yongle cinnabar lacquer box of the same size and carved with
a literati scene, formerly in the Qing Court Collection and now in the Palace
Museum, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006,
no. 44. Another Yongle-marked box of larger size and decorated with a literati
scene within a shaped medallion is also in the Palace Museum, ibid., no. 42.
此永樂大盒構圖華麗，繁而不亂，以天、地、水三種錦地、層次豐富的仙山樓
閣，及仙人童子構成祥瑞喜慶的群仙賀壽圖案，題材難得。傳世品中有少量永
樂人物圖蓋盒，但一般尺寸較小，且多為高士文會圖，構圖較簡約；如本盒上
繁縟華美的群仙賀壽圖則極為少見，很有可能是作為祝壽的賀禮。暫只知一件
相同例子，尺寸及紋飾幾乎一樣，同樣定年永樂，藏蘇格蘭鴨巴甸市美術館，
著錄於Derek Clifford，《Chinese Carved Lacquer》，倫敦，1992年，圖34
（圖一）。
據文獻記載，永樂皇帝在北京設置果園廠，製作宮廷漆器。永樂一朝之雕漆以
漆層厚潤、雕刻圓熟有勁、造型端莊規整著稱。本盒裝飾元素豐富，刀法嫻熟
利落，髹漆肥厚，為典型永樂御製雕漆之臻品。
另可參考清宮舊藏，故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集，尺寸相同、構圖較簡單的永
樂高士圖剔紅盒，現存北京故宮博物院，著錄於《元明漆器》，香港，2006
年，圖44；及一件較大的永樂款送友圖剔紅盒，見前揭書，圖42號。

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