Page 97 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

Impressive for its deep carving, large size and well Hongwu reign, which displays a transitional style between
preserved condition, this magnificent box is an exquisite lacquerware of the Yuan dynasty and the early 15th century,
example of the fine imperial lacquerware made in the sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2639.
Yongle period. The lively rendering of the scene, with its
careful juxtaposition of architectural elements that convey A similarly carved box, in the Freer Gallery of Art,
a true sense of depth and the lush and detailed carving Washington D.C., is illustrated in Derek Clifford, Chinese
of blooms with frilly petals, further attest to the excellent Carved Lacquer, London, 1992, pl. 33; another was included
standard of craftsmanship achieved in the manufacture of in the exhibition Selection of Masterpieces from Ringen Art
lacquer objects intended for imperial use. Museum, Ringen Art Museum, Okoyama, 1990, cat. no. 167;
and two further boxes were sold in our London rooms, the
In both style of carving and subject matter, this box stems first, 13th December 1988, lot 36, and the second, 14th May
from a tradition established in the Yuan dynasty, where 2008, lot 509. Compare also boxes of this type with Yongle
designs of idealized gardens inhabited by reclusive scholars marks and of the period; one in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
began to be carved on lacquer. The bold, unmannered illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of
approach that seems to characterize Yuan lacquer wares the Palace Museum, op. cit., pl. 41, together with another
of this type, was gradually replaced by the soft and subtle bearing a Qianlong inscription, pl. 37; a third included in the
perfection of the Yongle and Xuande period, as seen on this exhibition East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert
box. For a prototype of this design, see a box attributed to Irving Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
the Yuan dynasty, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated 1991, cat. no. 27; and a further box, of slightly smaller size,
in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace from the collection of Edward T. Chow, sold in these rooms,
Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, 3rd May 1994, lot 279.
Shanghai, 2006, pl. 4. Compare also a box attributed to the

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