Note: Exquisitely enamelled boxes of this type embody the dialogue between the East and West in the last quarter of the 17th century and the resultant achievements of craftsmen working at the Enamel Workshops in the Forbidden City during the Qing period. Boxes of this type were first created under the Kangxi Emperor and exact reproductions, with the exception of the reign mark, were commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor. It is unusual that no aspect of the box has been even slightly re-interpreted to suit Qianlong’s taste and as such is a testament to the timeless beauty of these boxes. A closely related box, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Metal-bodied Enamel Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 209, together with its Kangxi prototype, pl. 183. See also a pair of boxes sold in our London rooms, 5th July 1977, lot 43; and a single box was sold at Christie’s London, 8thJune 1992, lot 195.

The technique of enamelling on metal was originally introduced to the Chinese craftsmen in the Guangzhou area by French Jesuit missionaries in 1684 following the lifting of restrictions at ports. Being a port city, these artisans were the first to be exposed to wares from Europe and developed the skills in creating such wares. Enamoured by the range of vivid and pastel tones of the imported and tributary wares, the Kangxi Emperor recruited enamel artisans from Guangzhou and Jesuit missionaries to work in the Palace and advance the proficiency of the Enamel Workshop.

Compare a yellow-ground box of this shape with similar decoration, with a Kangxi mark and of the period, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamel Ware in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, pl. 83, together with a Kangxi five-lobed box with similar lotus blooms on a white ground, pl. 82. A bowl decorated with a similar design of lotus blooms in a similar palette to the present is also included ibid., pl. 79.