Lot 2885. A celadon jade ‘chicken’ box and cover, Wanli period (1573-1619); 3. 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) long. Estimate HKD 120,000 - HKD 180,000. Price realised HKD 150,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020. 

The top of the canted rectangular cover is carved with a floral cartouche enclosing a rooster and a hen amongst floral branches in a landscape, all reserved on a diaper ground. The curved sides of the cover and the box are decorated with lingzhi, encircled by keyfret bands at the rims. The stone is of a celadon tone mottled with black inclusions, box.

Provenance: S. Marchant & Son, London.

Note: The current box is unusually carved with the subject of a rooster and a hen, a motif representing familial harmony and popularised on the revered Chenghua doucai ‘chicken’ cups. The decorative scheme on the box, with auspicious motifs enclosed within a shaped cartouche against a diaper ground, can be found on contemporaneous works made in various media, including blue and white and wucai porcelains, as well as lacquerwares, such as a Jiajing-marked qiangjin and tianqi lacquer brush pot decorated with dragons within cartouches against a diaper ground, offered as lot 2909 in the current sale. Compare also to a rectangular Wanli-marked wucai box of similar form to the current lot, with a cover pierced and decorated with dragons enclosed within a shaped panel, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27 May 2008, lot 1857.