Page 159 - April 4 2017 Pavillion Sale Christies HK

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AUSTRALIAN COLLECTION

195
A LARGE QIANGJIN AND TIANQI-DECORATED LACQUER RECTANGULAR
‘DRAGON’ BOX AND COVER
WANLI PERIDO (1573-1620)

The cover has canted corners and is finely decorated in qiangjin and tianqi on the flat top
with two five-clawed dragons contesting a flaming pearl, surrounded by breaking waves
crashing againt moutain peaks, all against a red ground. The sides are decorated with pairs
of confronting dragons against a yellow ground. The box stands on four bracket feet linked
by shaped spandrels, and is similarly decorated around the sides with striding dragons, and
around the feet with a continuous floral scroll. The interior and the base are lacquered black.

23 in. (58.5 cm.) wide, box

HK$200,000-300,000 US$26,000-39,000

Although the current box and cover appears to be unique, several other comparable boxes
and covers are known and published, all with slightly different designs. A qiangjin and
tianqi box (47.8 cm. wide) of similar form incised with a Wanli cyclical mark and decorated
with two dragons centred around a shou character from the Lee Family collection is
illustrated in Dragon and Phoenix - Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection,
Tokyo, 1990, no. 82, p. 190-191. Another (36.6 cm. wide), also with Wanli cyclical mark and
decorated with two dragons centred on auspicious emblems, from the Palace Museum, is
illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, The Complete Collection of
Treasures from the Palace Museum, Beijing, 2006, no. 177, pp. 224-225.

明萬曆 戧金填漆祥龍戲珠紋長方蓋盒

157