Lot 736. A blue and white cushion-form box and cover, Wanli six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1573-1619), 6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm.) wide. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 40,000. Price realised USD 106,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The box and cover are of square form with canted corners. The cover is decorated with a five-clawed dragon holding a flaming pearl above its head amidst clouds and flames, and within a border of two striding dragons separated by foaming waves and rocks above a band of key fret at the rim. The box is decorated en suite with two dragons beneath a key-fret band below the rim.

Provenance: Private collection, Sweden, before 1948.

Note: A similar Wanli-marked box and cover is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2015, pp. 323-24, no. 11:129, where the author notes that such boxes were probably used as a container for a gift of sweetmeats.

Quatrefoil porcelain box and cover with underglaze blue decoration, Ming dynasty, Wanli mark and period (1573-1619). Length: 15.5 cm, Width: 13.5 cm, Height: 7 cm. Bequeathed by Henry J Oppenheim, 1947,0712.221.a-b © The Trustees of the British Museum