Lot 3079. A Ming Yunnan cinnabar lacquer tray, Ming dynasty, 16th century; 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) wide. Estimate HKD 180,000 - HKD 220,000. Price Realized HKD 300,000. © Christie's Images Ltd. 2010

The tray with indented corners, deeply carved to the front with four mythical beasts galloping around a lotus head, enclosed within a floral border, the reverse side with chrysanthemum bloom above a double-ring band around the foot, the base applied with brownish-black lacquer, Japanese wood box.

Provenance: A Japanese private collection.

Note: A dish of identical form and design in the National Museum of Scotland Collection, is illustrated by Hu Shih-chang, Chinese Lacquer, National Museums of Scotland Publishing, Edinburgh, 1998, p. 48, no. 23.

The present tray, characterised by very dense decoration, and the edges of the carving left unpolished might very well have been made inYunnan, according to the features listed by Sir Harry Garner, Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, p. 134. A square foliated dish carved in the same style as the present lot, with border of similar design is illustrated, ibid., pl. 73. Compare also a carved red lacquer foliated square dish with equally ornate decoration illustrated in East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, p. 90, no. 31.