Page 201 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

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A RARE RETICULATED POLYCHROME 清雍正 彩漆鏤空花卉紋熏盒
LACQUER BOX AND COVER 《雍正年製》款
MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG
of compressed globular shape supported on a short foot, the
pierced domed cover brightly painted and enhanced with gilt,
depicting in the central medallion a red flower and other smaller
florets borne on a network of foliate scrolls and palmette
leaves, all encircled by a brown-ground gilt key-fret band, the
sides of the cover and the box similarly decorated with florets
and leafy scrolls, bordered by brown-ground gilt trellis bands
at the rims and foot, the interior gilt, the base applied with
brown lacquer and finely painted with a leafy spray of succulent
peaches below a gilt horizontal four-character reign mark
10.1 cm, 4 in.

HK$ 250,000-300,000
US$ 31,900-38,300

This luxuriantly decorated box and cover, skilfully reticulated
with a design of flowers, foliate scrolls and palmette leaves,
is a rare work of art encapsulating the Yongzheng court’s
tendency towards innovation. The articulation of the succulent
peaches on the base, suspended from leafy sprays, is
reminiscent of that on a Yongzheng mark and period enamel
box and cover from Alice Boney, illustrated in Fang Jing Pei et.
al., Treasures of the Chinese Scholar, New York, 1997, fig. 108,
and sold in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 3783.
For a larger Yongzheng period gilded lacquer box of closely
related form, but without reticulation, but decorated with
similar foliate scrolls in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
see Harmony and Integrity. The Yongzheng Emperor and
His Times, Taipei, 2009, cat. no. II-96. The same unusual
Yongzheng four-character mark, written in a horizontal line, is
also seen on enamelled works of art, including a black-ground Mark
box imitating Japanese inro, illustrated ibid., cat. no. II-92.
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