Page 91 - Bonhams Hong Kong The Skinner Moon Flasks

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The sheng (聖) red lacquer box described above, most likely refers to a
circular cinnabar lacquer box and cover, Qianlong and feilong yanhe (飛
龍宴盒) (‘flying dragons banquet box’), from the Qing Court collection,
which is carved with a dragon bearing a sheng character, illustrated in
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer
Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2006, pl.13.
The present lot of a very rare pair of polychrome and qiangjin lacquer
rectangular sheng boxes and covers, is most probably the reference by
the Qianlong emperor to a rectangular polychrome lacquer kanhe box,
which served as an example in form.
Combined, the two boxes above provided the decorative style and
shape for the pair of kanhe boxes, which was presented to the Qianlong
emperor in 1746. The 1746 pair of boxes is most likely the pair of
rectangular carved cinnabar lacquer boxes and covers with gilt-bronze
wire-mesh windows, Qianlong six-character marks and four-character
feilong yanhe (飛龍宴盒) mark, from the Qing Court collection in the
Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The World Rejoices As One:
Celebrating Imperial Birthdays in the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2015,
pp.298-299, no.186. This pair is carved with dragons pursuing the
flaming pearl, similarly enclosing (as the present lot) the character sheng;
each of the boxes contains ten cloisonné enamel cups bearing the
characters wanshou wujiang (萬壽無疆), ‘ten thousand longevity without
limits’.
Palace Museum, Beijing
北京故宮博物院
The wispy lingzhi-shaped coloured clouds,’qing yun’ (慶雲), depicted on
the present lot, represent the emperor’s wish for longevity. The motif can
be further interpreted as a pun on the word ‘cloud’, yun (雲), which is a
homophone for fuyun (福運), ‘good fortune’. In an agricultural society,
the rain-bearing clouds would have been perceived as a benevolent
omen, for the necessary irrigation of the crops. This motif was much
admired by the Yongzheng emperor, who became in later life a devout
Daoist, with many works of art produced during this period, decorated
with this decorative motif; see for example the pair of doucai waterpots,
Yongzheng marks and of the period, sold in these rooms, 2 June 2016,
lot 12. As the Qianlong emperor was personally involved in ordering the
production of such boxes and probably also the present pair, it is no
coincidence that the design bore motifs admired by his father.
Compare also a related square qiangjin ‘dragon and cloud’ box and
cover, Qianlong mark and period, from the Qing Court collection,
illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, p.151,
no.110.