Lot Essay
As porcelain was a medium that was relatively easy to control and decorate to high standards of imperial quality during the 18th century, it was frequently used to simulate a variety of other works of art such as hardstones, bronzes, cloisonné enamels, wood and lacquer. The present box and cover is exemplary of such innovation of imperial quality.
For a lacquer box and cover possibly served as inspiration to the present lot, see a carved Ming dynasty box with a pavilion amidst a riverscape preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number xin-00123808 (fig. 1). Compare to an imitation lacquer porcelain box with very similar decoration on the cover and sides, and also raised on five-tab feet, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number gu-00152658 (fig. 2).
Compare also to a smaller Qianlong period circular porcelain box in imitation of carved lacquer with prunus branches on a trellis ground, included in the Taipei National Palace Museum Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, and illustrated in its exhibition catalogue, Taipei, 1986, p. 141, no. 114 (fig. 3).
For a lacquer box and cover possibly served as inspiration to the present lot, see a carved Ming dynasty box with a pavilion amidst a riverscape preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number xin-00123808 (fig. 1). Compare to an imitation lacquer porcelain box with very similar decoration on the cover and sides, and also raised on five-tab feet, is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, collection number gu-00152658 (fig. 2).
Compare also to a smaller Qianlong period circular porcelain box in imitation of carved lacquer with prunus branches on a trellis ground, included in the Taipei National Palace Museum Special Exhibition of K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng and Ch'ien-lung Porcelain Ware from the Ch'ing Dynasty in the National Palace Museum, and illustrated in its exhibition catalogue, Taipei, 1986, p. 141, no. 114 (fig. 3).