Page 98 - Bonhams Hong Kong The Skinner Moon Flasks

Image courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei The present lot demonstrates the outstanding craftsmanship attained
台北故宮博物院 in the lacquer ateliers, as well as the Qianlong emperor’s personal taste
and influence on the design of lacquer wares made for the Imperial
court.

The Qianlong emperor oversaw the production of court lacquer wares,
with particular reference to cinnabar lacquer boxes and covers with
dual Imperial marks, as exemplified by the present lot. According to the
archives of the lacquer workshop in the Imperial Palace Workshops,
Zaobanchu, during the Qianlong reign between 1771 and 1775,
a number of specifically carved lacquer baohe or ‘treasure boxes’
were produced by order of the emperor, with specially inscribed four-
character names as well as the Imperial reign marks; see Lin Mun-lee,
Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors: Treasured Lacquerware in the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p.117.

See a rectangular cinnabar lacquer box and cover of similar size,
also decorated with three Buddhist lions playing with a ribboned ball,
Qianlong and Xunshi Baohe marks and of the period, and another
related rectangular cinnabar lacquer box of similar form, Qianlong
and Danfeng Baolian marks and period, both in the National Palace
Museum, Taipei, illustrated by Lin Mun-lee, ibid., pls.107 and 130.

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