Page 114 - Christie's London Fine Chinese Ceramics Nov. 2019

*95
A VERY RARE CARVED POLYCHROME LACQUER 'CHRYSANTHEMUM' BOX AND COVER
SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)
The box and cover are carved through layers of brown, yellow and red lacquer with an intricate network of
chrysanthemum fowers growing from leafy stems. The cover is formed with lobed sides to accomodate
the fower-form brass ring-handles applied to the long side of the box.
5√ in. (14.9 cm.) long, inscribed Japanese box
£60,000-80,000 US$75,000-99,000
€68,000-90,000
PROVENANCE:
Collection of Maeyama Hisakichi (1872-1937), Tokyo Bijutsu Club, 18 February 1941, lot 136
The interior of the box is inscribed in ink, stating that the carved lacquer box was given to Nishimura
Shijun by the lord of the Owari-Tokugawa Clan when he made a trip to the Nagato province. The
inscription is dated to 1864 and signed by Gensensai (1833-1908), studio name Shigetsu-an IV, with
seal, Soyu Bosai.
It is interesting to note that the style of carving of this box and cover is related a dish in the collection
of the Tokyo National Museum, decorated to the centre with boys in a moonlit garden and encircled by
a broad band of leaves and fowers, illustrated by Derek Cliford in Chinese Carved Lacquer, London,
1992, p. 27, pl. 13. Another stylistically related lacquer bowl and stand of similar carving style and
dating is in the collection of the Linden Museum Stuttgart, illustrated by Klaus J. Brandt in Chinesische
Lackarbeiten, Stuttgart, 1988, p. 67, fg. 21.

宋 剔彩菊花紋蓋盒
來源:
前山久吉(1872-1937)珍藏
東京市美術俱樂部，1941年2月18日，拍品136

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