Rare boite en or et incrustations. Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong (1736-1795) ou plus tardif. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd. 2011

De forme polylobée, en or, rehaussée de volutes en filigranes, agrémentée d'incrustations en rubis, saphirs, perles naturelles et de culture, plumes de martin-pêcheurs et corail, le dessus du couvercle orné de cinq chauve-souris entourant le caractère shou, marque à quatre caractères de l'Empereur Qianlong à la base probablement postérieure ; petits manques et remplacements. Longueur: 10,4 cm. (4 1/16 in.), Poids: 388,2 g. Or titré 22 à 24 K. Estimate €30,000 - €40,000 ($43,943 - $58,591). Price Realized €193,000 ($282,699)

Provenance: From a French private collection

Notes: No other box like the present one appears to be published.
However, the filigree scrolls of the sides look very similar to the backgrounds of imperial pieces such as a Tibetan-style inlaid gilt bottle, illustrated in Monarchy and its Buddhist Way - Tibetan-Buddhist Ritual implements in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, p.182, pl.89; a gold pavilion-shaped shrine inlaid with pearls and turquoise and a gold plate, illustrated in Treasures of Imperial Court - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2004, pls. 179 and 218.
Another turquoise and lapis-lazuli inlaid gold box from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Op. Cit., p.221, pl.123, bears a very similar central shou character on the cover.
The replacement of some pearls by pierced pearls was common as seen on an inlaid gold calabash-shaped ewer from the Palace in Beijing and illustrated in Op. Cit., pl.211.

Christie's. Art d'Asie, 7 June 2011, Paris www.christies.com