Page 204 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN 重要中४藝術暨高曼珍藏

FRIDAY 22 MARCH 9.00AM ~ⱷ1103
(Lots 1101–1239) AN EXQUISITE AND VERY RARE MOTHER-OF- admired, based on a comment by Cao Zhao in the Gegu yaolun (The
PEARL-INLAID BOX AND COVER Essential Criteria of Antiques) in a section discussing the mother-of-
YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368) pearl-inlaid lacquer: 'In the Yuan Dynasty, rich families ordered this
type of ware, but left the manufacturers to take their own time in their
Together with the Osaka Bijitsu 1934 catalogue which includes the present box making. The products are in very solid lacquer, and the designs with
Various Properties and cover. human figures on them are delightful to the beholder.'
~ⱷ1101 8 in. (20 cm.) wide, Japanese wood box
A MOTHER-OF-PEARL-INLAID CIRCULAR BOX $60,000-80,000 The scene depicted on the cover of the present box, although yet to
AND COVER PROVENANCE: be identified, can be found on two other published Yuan-period black
lacquer boxes inlaid with mother-of-pearl. One is a square tiered box
MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY Hirase Family Collection. and cover with indented corners from the Florence and Herbert Irving
9q in. (24 cm.) diam., Japanese wood box Osaka Bijitsu Club, Osaka, 1934. Collection and illustrated in East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and
$10,000-15,000 Herbert Irving Collection, p. 129-130, no. 57. The other is an octagonal
box and cover dated to Yuan dynasty also from the Mike Healy
The current Yuan lacquer box with exquisite mother-of-pearl inlay
明十Սˠ紀 黑漆螺鈿仙́⒳子圖८蓋盒 represents the most impressive manifestation of Yuan-dynasty lacquer Collection and illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the
Mike Healy Collection, Honolulu, 2003, cat. no. 6, pp. 34-35.
art. The extraordinary delicacy and intricacy of the inlaid decoration,
as well as the complexity and artistry of the overall design of the box, The scene on the top of the Irving box is similar to the scene on the top
makes it a masterpiece of 14th-century lacquer.
~ⱷ1102 of the present box in depicting ladies in a lush courtyard. The Healy
box, however, depicts a group of figures with their farming tools and
A MOTHER-OF-PEARL-INLAID BLACK LACQUER In 1970, a large fragment of mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer was a dog. While the scene on the Healy box is different from that on the
LOW TABLE excavated from the site of the Yuan-dynasty capital Dadu in the west aforementioned boxes, the stylization of the figures and intricacy of
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722) of Beijing. This fragment, possibly from the lid of a large box or a tray, the inlay is very similar and the similarity in composition in these three
24¡ in. (62 cm.) wide, 16¿ in. (41 cm.) long, 9º in. (23.5 cm.) high depicts the Guanghan Palace (the Moon Palace, which was the abode boxes suggests the likely use of a template.
of the moon goddess Chang'e), and the precision of shaping and laying
$10,000-15,000 the pieces as well as the use of colors and the fineness of the details
incised into the tiny pieces of shell can still clearly be seen. The design 元 黑漆螺鈿́ḵ故̢圖茶箱
清康熙 黑漆螺鈿庭७́ḵ֛ on this fragment, like the scene on the cover of the present box, is very Ϝ源
1101 pictorial. In addition, mother-of-pearl lacquers decorated with pictorial 平瀨家族珍藏
scenes incorporating human figures appear to have been especially ૯阪美術Ц樂部, ૯阪, 1934年

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