A rare imperial cinnabar lacquer ‘Buddhist lions’ treasure box and cover (Qianlong six-character and Suanni Baohe four-character marks and of the period)
A rare imperial cinnabar lacquer ‘Buddhist lions’ treasure box and cover (Qianlong six-character and Suanni Baohe four-character marks and of the period)
Description
Dimensions: 32.8 cm wide
Provenance:
A private European collection
The rectangular box carved on the cover in varying depths of relief with three Buddhist lions playing with a ball amidst flame scrolls. The lions are carefully incised to show their expressions, fur, mane and bushy tails. The central scene reserved on a floral cash-motif diaper ground, enclosed by a rectangular band of key-fret and foliate lotus scrolls in high relief.
The sides of the box carved with further bands of key-fret and intricately carved foliate lotus scrolls. The interior and base in black lacquer; the base with an incised-gilt Qianlong six-character ‘kaishu’ mark and the underside of the cover with an incised gilt ‘suanni baohekaishu’ mark, ‘Treasured Box of Lions’.
This treasure box exemplifies the height of lacquer production achieved during the reign of the Qianlong emperor. Imperial archives show that the Qianlong emperor personally oversaw the production of court lacquer wares, in particular cinnabar lacquer boxes and covers with dual Imperial marks. According to the Zaobanchu, archives of the lacquer workshop in the Imperial Palace Workshops, between 1771 and 1775, a number of specifically carved lacquer baohe or ‘treasure boxes’ were produced by order of the emperor, specially inscribed with four-character names as well as the Imperial reign marks; see Lin Mun-lee, Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors: Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p.117.
A near identical box and cover can be found in the collection of the Palace Museum, situated in the ‘West Warmth Chamber’, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Hall of Mental Cultivation of the Palace Museum – Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors, Hong Kong, June-Oct. 2017, p. 88-89.
