Page 108 - Christie's Fine Chinese Paintings March 19 2019 Auction

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION
1646
A FINELY CARVED SMALL RED LACQUER BOX AND COVER
MING DYNASTY, 16TH-EARLY 17TH CENTURY
The box and cover are both exquisitely carved in high relief, on one side with The depiction of children in Chinese art has its roots in Buddhist beliefs
three boys in a garden setting, one riding a hobby horse, one holding a lotus infuenced by Daoism. By the Tang dynasty, images of healthy children were
leaf canopy aloft, and the other beating a gong to lead the way, the other side no longer confned to religious art, but began to appear on many types of
is carved with two boys, one holds a bird cage while the other playfully holds a secular art as an auspicious symbol. This cheerful theme was popularized
bow and aims at a bird in fight above. by the Southern Song dynasty court artist, Su Hanchen (active early 12th
3 in. (7.6 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box century), and perpetuated into the Ming period, when artists adapted it to
convey auspicious wishes. On the present box and cover, for example, the
$30,000-50,000 combination of a boy and a lotus leaf seen on one side provided a rebus
or visual pun, since lotus (lian) shares the same sound with the word for
‘continuous.’ Thus, the imagery of boys and lotus became a symbol of the
PROVENANCE wish for many sons. Furthermore, since the other word for lotus (he) shares
Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 1938. the same sound with the word for ‘peace,’ the particular combination seen
on the present lot, of a boy holding a lotus leaf together with other boys, can
also suggest harmony amongst many the sons and grandsons.
明十六/十七世紀初 剔紅嬰戲圖小圓蓋盒

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