A RARE WUCAI BOX AND COVER WITH PAIRS OF DANCERS MARK AND PERIOD OF WANLI

of barrel shape with curved sides, the flat cover with a raised edge, painted in a bright underglaze blue and green, red, yellow and brown enamels and black details, showing on the cover and twice around the sides of the box a scene of two men in lively dancing poses among various leafy plants under a pine tree, dressed in flowing garments and fanciful hats and holding different fans, with a scroll border around the top and prunus blossoms on waves around the edge of the cover, key-fret around the rim and a lingzhi scroll around the base of the box, the reign mark inscribed on a recessed glazed area in the centre of the unglazed base

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 13th November 1990, lot 149.
Collection of T.T. Tsui, Jingguantang Collection.
Christie's London, 15th November 2000, lot 32.
J.J. Lally & Co, New York.

Sotheby's Hong Kong – Twenty Years, 1973-1993, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 134.
Sotheby's. Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, pl. 177.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1704.

The cover with a minor enamel flake, 3 mm frit along the edge. The box has a 1. 5 chip to the inner rim, a minor enamel flake, and a 2 mm burst air bubble. The overall condition however is very good with the enamelling quite well preserved.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Barrel-shaped boxes of this type may have been used in pairs as containers for chess pieces, although related jars, generally with a recessed top, were also used as cricket cages.

A similar box and cover is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, illustrated in Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku. Chūgoku tōji/Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 748; a box and cover of this model, but with the design somewhat differently rendered, was sold at Christie's London, 9th December 1985, lot 145. The same shape is also known with a polychrome design of mythical animals; compare a box from the collection of Iver Munthe Daae, member of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service 1867-88, sold in these rooms, 1st November 1994, lot 54.