Lot 476. A cinnabar lacquer box and cover, Ming dynasty, 15th century; .6 cm, 2 1/4  in. Estimate 90,000 — 120,000 HKD. Lot sold 118,750 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

the domed cover and the box crisply carved with flower blooms wreathed in dense foliage, the interior and the recessed base lacquered reddish-brown, the base incised with a Yongle mark.

Note: Lacquer boxes of this small delicate size were generally used for keeping rouge or as incense box to hold aromatic pellets and pieces of scented wood. The attractive floral carving also suggests that it was probably made for a lady to be used in her chamber. A similar example is preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, published in Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer Ware, Taipei, 1971, pl. 18. Another similar box from the Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese Lacquer sold in these rooms, 8th April 2014, lot 34.

A small carved cinnabar lacquer 'Camellia' box and cover, Ming dynasty, early 15th century, from the Collection of Frederick Mayer; diameter 4.2 cm., 1 5/8 in. Sold for 312,500 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Hong, 8th April 2014, lot 34. Photo Sotheby's

 Cf. my post: A small carved cinnabar lacquer 'Camellia' box and cover, Ming dynasty, early 15th century

Sotheby's. Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 31 May 2018.