Page 56 - Christie's Asian Art Auctions PARIS December 2019

ƒ62
RARE ET IMPORTANTE BOITE COUVERTE EN LAQUE
ROUGE
CHINE, DYNASTIE MING, MARQUE INCISEE A SIX
CARACTERES ET EPOQUE XUANDE (1426-1435)
Le couvercle est délicatement sculpté en relief en laque rouge sur
un fond ocre de trois grandes feurs de pivoine épanouies parmi des
feuilles luxuriantes. De façon symétrique, le pourtour du couvercle et
celui de la boîte sont à décor de feurs des quatre saisons : pivoine,
lotus, chrysanthème et camélia, représentant dans l'ordre le
printemps, l'été, l'automne et l'hiver. La base laquée noire porte une
inscription incisée à six caractères Da Ming Xuande Nian Zhi ; petites
restaurations.
Diamètre: 22 cm. (8æ in.)
Hauteur: 8,2 cm. (3º in.)
€80,000-120,000 US$89,000-130,000
£70,000-100,000
PROVENANCE:
Previously in an important private collection.
Nagel auction, 6 May 2011, lot 22.
The foral designs on early Ming lacquer boxes represent some of
the fnest decoration found in the Chinese decorative repertoire, as
evident in the exquisite carving on the present box. Several boxes
carved with this design of peony blossoms are known in various
sizes, a few of large size (30 cm. diam. upwards) with fve peonies
and several of smaller size (approx. 15 cm. diam.) carved with one to
three peonies. It appears that boxes of mid-size, as is the case with
the present lot, are rarer.
A box of the same size and with a very similar confguration is
illustrated in Zhongguo Qiqi Quanji, vol. 5, Beijing, 1995, no. 18; while
another of slightly larger size (25 cm. diam.) is illustrated ibid., no.
8. See a 'three peony' box and cover with a carved Xuande mark, in
the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, illustrated inToyo no
Shikko-gei, 1977, cat. No. 505.
Compare also the style of decoration on two large peony boxes with
incised Yongle marks, one sold in our London Rooms, 5 June 1995,
lot 16, and the other sold in these Rooms, An Important Collection
of Chinese Lacquer, 30 April 2001, lot 637. Dishes with similar
design are also known, such as the two in the Nezu Museum, Nezu
Bijutsukan, Mei hin shusei, 1986, nos. 491-492.
A RARE AND FINELY CARVED RED CINNABAR LACQUER
'PEONY' BOX AND COVER
CHINA, MING DYNASTY, XUANDE INCISED SIX-CHARACTER
MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1426-1435)
明宣德 剔紅纏枝牡丹四季花卉紋蓋盒
「大明宣德年制」六字楷書刻款
來源：
重要私人舊藏
德國納高拍賣公司，2011年5月6日，拍品22號

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