Page 46 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

Lot 44 (Two views)

PROPERTY OF AN ENGLISH LADY
44
A RARE BLACK ANTHRACITE CIRCULAR ‘EUROPEAN Provenance
Spink & Son, Ltd., London
ARMORIAL’ BOX AND COVER
Jiaqing
The lightly domed cover, carved in deep relief with a dense design of 來源
farmers at chores, and other figures boating, sitting in pavilions, riding a Spink & Son, Ltd., 倫敦
horse, and dangling their feet in water, all set amidst pine, maple, willow
and bamboo, bordered by a wreath-like band of peony and prunus David Sanctuary Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain, London, 1974,
which continues on the waisted sides, the box sides with buildings and p. 710, W3, illustrates a plate with the same motto ‘Pax et Copia’
pine and the base similarly carved to the cover, though in a less-dense belonging to the Samler family but with a different coat of arms
fashion, with agricultural, fishing and leisure scenes centered by the (impaling Shaw) but sharing some of the heraldic symbols like the
coat-of arms and motto ‘Pax et Copia’ (Peace and Plenty). ‘three quatrefoils’.
5 1/2in (14 cm) diameter
A large number of similar boxes and covers depicting the daily lives
of the Chinese population, presumably in the south, and it appears
$2,000 - 4,000 specifically made for the export trade, are published, but most appear
to have been made from tortoiseshell. The use of anthracite, (coal
清嘉慶 炭雕人物樓閣及歐洲紋章盒蓋 or fossilized wood), is an unusual feature of this particular box. The
addition of motto’s and coat’s-of-arms on so many of these boxes
clearly points to a Western commission, as does their appearance in
so many Western collections.

For two tortoiseshell examples, presumably from the same network
of workshops, see Sotheby’s, New York, Florence and Herbert Irving
Collection, 14 September 2019, lot 1297; and Gerard Hawthorn Ltd.,
Oriental Works of Art, Summer 2005, no. 70.

44 | BONHAMS