Page 31 - MANDARIN & MENAGERIE: THE SOWELL COLLECTION, PART II

631
A RARE FAMILLE ROSE OCTAGONAL BOX AND COVER
YONGZHENG PERIOD (1723-1735)

The top of the deep box is set with a raised panel painted in famille
rose enamels with the Eight Daoist Immortals holding their attributes
and standing on breaking waves. The center is painted with a yinyang
symbol partially covered by a lotus plant bearing three lotus buds
within a roundel bordered by stylized chilong. The eight sides of the
box are decorated with quatrefoil panels painted en grisaille with
landscape scenes, each within a larger shaped panel painted in gilt
with varied diaper patterns, fower blossoms, and Buddhist emblems.
8æ in. (22 cm.) wide

$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE:

The James E. Sowell Collection, Dallas, Texas.

Famille rose covered boxes of this form and design are extremely rare and
few similar examples appear to have been published. A pair of famille rose
boxes of similar shape, but dated to the Qianlong period, are illustrated by
The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York, Chinese Export Art from the
Eckenhoff and Other Collections, 1997, p. 53, no. 39. These boxes are also
octagonal in shape, but the cover is surmounted by a lobed knob, and the
side panels are also painted in famille rose, while the panels on the present
box are painted en grisaille.

清雍正 粉彩開光八仙過海圖八方蓋盒

29