Lot 3683. A rare carved cinnabar lacquer circular 'peony' box and cover, mark and period of Yongle (1403-1425). Estimation 800,000 — 1,000,000 HKD. Unsold. Photo Sotheby's.

of circular form, the cover well carved through the thick cinnabar lacquer to the yellow-ochre ground with three large flowering peony blooms detailed with frilly petals, all wreathed by budding blossoms and dense foliage, the sides of the box and cover similarly carved with further floral blooms interrupted by floral buds and leaves, the interior and recessed base lacquered dark brown, the base incised with a six-character reign mark; 12.1 cm, 4 3/4  in.

Provenance: A private French collection, by repute..

Notes: Boxes were among the most popular items made in carved lacquer for the imperial court during the Yongle and Xuande reigns, but boxes of this size and design are very rare. Skilfully decorated on the cover with three blooming peonies among dense foliage against the yellow ochre ground, this box is notable for its deep carving which adds a greater sense of three-dimensionality.

A Yongle box similarly carved with three peony blooms in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, but much larger in size, is included in the exhibition Heguang ticai. Gugong zang qi/Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors. Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 011, together with a Xuande example of large size and comparable design, cat. no. 012. See two other large boxes of similar design, dated to the early Ming dynasty, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2006, pls. 71 and 73.

Compare Yongle boxes of similar size and form, but carved on the cover with five peony blooms, such as one from the collection of H.M. King of Sweden, illustrated in Jan Wirgin, ‘Some Chinese Carved Lacquer of the Yuan and Ming Periods’, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 44, 1972, pl. 11, no. 14; and another from the Edward T. Chow Collection, included in the exhibition One Man’s Taste. Treasures from the Lakeside Pavilion, Galleries of the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1988, cat. no. L11, and sold in these rooms, 3rd May 1994, lot 278.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 05 oct. 2016, 02:30 PM

Chinese lacquer box and cover, Ming dynasty, mark and period of Yongle (1403-1425), early 15th century. Carved red lacquer. Straight sides, flat cover and sunk base. On cover large tree-peony, with smaller flowers and bud. Round the sides: chrysantemum, pomegranate, tree-peony and camellia. Interior and base black lacquered. On base a six-character Yongle mark. D. 120mm H. 40mm. Bequest of H.M. King Gustaf VI Adolf. No 2384. Dossier: J. Wirgin: BMFEA 44/1972, pl. 11. ©2016 Östasiatiska Museet