Page 126 - Christies King St. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART
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A RARE RED-LACQUERED AND GILT-DECORATED RECTANGULAR SUTRA BOX
AND COVER
YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1424)
明永樂 朱漆描金八吉祥紋蓋盒
The top of the cover is fnely incised and gilt with large lotus blooms supporting the Eight Buddhist
Emblems, bajixiang, surrounded by leafy scrolls. The sides of the cover and the box are decorated with
further stylised lotus blooms. The cover is attached to the back with gilt-bronze ruyi-shaped hinges and to
the front with a rectangular lock plate, all intricately detailed with lotus motifs. The interior is lined
with silk.
19Ω in. (49.5 cm.) wide
£30,000-50,000 $46,000-76,000
€41,000-68,000
PROVENANCE:
From the Collection of Francisco Capelo.
Compare the present lot to related sutra box decorated with dragons in The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, included in the exhibition Defning Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth Century, New
York, 2005, Catalogue, pl. 21. Also see a sutra box included in the Christopher Bruckner 1998 exhibition
catalogue Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, London, no. 3. Another
similar example with the same design of lotus with bajixiang was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
3 June 2015, lot 3010.
來源: 葡萄牙私人藏家Capelo珍藏
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