Lot 117.  A cinnabar lacquer 'Buddhist lion' box and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 18.2 cm, 7 1/8  in. Estimate 10,000 — 15,000 GBP. Lot sold 20,000 £ (22,906 €). © Sotheby's.

the cover delicately carved in varying levels of relief with three lions dancing around a brocade ball surrounded by auspicious emblems, their tufts of fur finely detailed, all reserved on a geometric diaper ground with the wan symbol, enclosed by a keyfret border at the rim, the side of the box and cover carved with floral roundels against a floral diaper ground, the interior and base lacquered black.

Provenance: Spink & Son Ltd., London (according to label)

Note: Lacquer boxes decorated with a related design include one of rectangular form in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese Carved Lacquer Ware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, cat. no. 34; a six-lobed box and cover sold in these rooms, 15th June 1979, lot 250; another sold in these rooms, 16th May 2018, lot 37; and a polychrome lacquer circular box sold at Christie’s London, 7th November 2017, lot 115.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 08 Nov 2018, 10:30 AM