Two small blue and white circular boxes and covers, Chongzhen period, circa 1643. Estimate $2,000 - $3,000. Price Realized $1,375 . Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The domed cover of one box is decorated with a central medallion containing a fish-scale pattern enclosed by a floral scroll, and the box is decorated with two stylized floral sprays. The cover of the second box is painted with a central floral medallion enclosed by ruyi borders, the box also with a ruyi band. 2 in. (5.1 cm.) and 2 1/8 in. ( 5.4 cm.) diam.

Provenance: The Property of Captain Michael Hatcher; Christie's Amsterdam, 14 March 1984, lot 431 (part).
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Notes: A small box of similar proportions, also from the Hatcher Wreck, in the British Museum, London, is illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall in Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 391, no. 12.93, where the author notes that such boxes were most likely intended to store red seal paste.

Christie's. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza