Lot 632. A rare carved red lacquer two-tiered rectangular box and cover, Wanli period (1573-1619); 8 ¼ in. (21 cm.) long. Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000. Price realised USD 43,750 © Christie's Images Ltd 2018

The top and canted sides of the cover, and the sides of the middle section, are well carved with charming scenes of boys at play ('Hundred Boys' motif) in garden settings, the decoration on the cover is above a narrow band of confronted chilong which is repeated at the rim of the lower section above a band of flowering branches on the tapered lower body, all reserved on diaper grounds. The interiors and base are covered in dark brown lacquer.

Provenance: Sammy Y. Lee & Wangs Co., Ltd., Hong Kong, 1973.
Arthur M. Sackler Collections, Christie's New York, 18 March 2009, lot 370.
The Studio of the Clear Garden.

Literature: Lee Yu-kuan, Oriental Lacquer Art, New York/Tokyo, 1972, p. 192, no. 124.

Christie's. The Studio of the Clear Garden: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 22 March 2018, New York