A Carved Cinnabar Circular 'Four Favourites' Lacquer Box and Cover Incised Mark and Period of Yongle

the flat circular cover crisply carved through deep layers of cinnabar lacquer with a scene of the 'Four Favourites' depicting the Song philosopher Zhou Dunyi seated on the terrace of an opulent pavilion by the edge of a lake, fanning himself looking at a lotus pond and a crane while two servants in the kitchen prepare a meal, the scene surrounded by various trees, shrubs and rocks beneath a tall gnarled pine tree and swaying sprays of bamboo, against various diaper patterns for the terrace, water and air, all below cloud scrolls at the rim, the sides decorated with composite flower-heads including lotus, camellia, magnolia, hibiscus, chrysanthemum and peony, all wreathed in their lush foliage contained within two thick plain borders, the box, the box similarly carved with matching flower scrolls, the interior and the base lacquered in brownish-black, the latter inscribed with a six-character needle-incised vertical reign mark on the left side

2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer. Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 40.
Layered Beauty: The Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese Lacquer, Art Museum, Institute of Chinese Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2010, cat. no. 37.

The cover has a few consolidated cracks that have been stabilized. The edges also have some consolidated cracks that have been restored and overpainted. The interior of the cover looks to be in very good condition. The box has a bit of overpainting to the consolidated cracks, which gives the box a slightly different red colour. The black on the bottom may have been relacquered at a later time, but still has age cracks throughout. The interior is in quite good condition with only a few minor cracks and chips along the rim and around the base that have been restored and stabilized.
"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."

This magnificent lacquer box is impressive for its deep carving, large size and well preserved condition, making it a rare example amongst lacquer wares of the Yongle period. A box of this shape but smaller in size, from the collection of Florence and Herbert Irving and now on loan in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is published in James C.Y. Watt and Barbara Brennan Ford, East Asian Lacquer, New York, 1991, pl. 27. The Irving box is carved in a very similar fashion but with a different figural scene and with a dense floral scroll decoration around the rim. Other comparable boxes may be found in museums and private collections, all decorated with different scenes of scholars in garden settings, surrounded by pavilions and trees with a lake in the background and with flower scrolls around the sides. They all bear a Yongle reign mark as seen here. Compare further related examples in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2006, cat. nos. 37-41. Another related box was sold in our London rooms, 13^th December 1988, lot 36; one from the collection of Edward T. Chow, was sold in these rooms, 3^rd May 1994, lot 279; and a further piece was also sold, more recently, in these rooms, 29^th October 2001, lot 666. 

Further boxes belonging to this special group may be found in Japan, such as one included in the Tokyo National Museum exhibition Chinese Arts of the Ming and Ch’ing Periods, Tokyo, 1977, cat. no. 499, together with two from the Nezu Art Museum, cat. nos. 497-8.

Boxes of this type may also be found with incised Yongle marks beneath a carved Xuande mark. Lee Yu-Kuan in Oriental Lacquer Art, New York, 1972, pp. 40-41, suggests that the group of Yongle wares with Xuande marks can be dated to the short period when finished lacquer was still in the workshops but had not yet been presented to the Yongle emperor before his sudden death in 1424. The Yongle marks were then changed to Xuande for presentation to the new Xuande emperor in the early months of his reign, but still using the Yongle position of the mark down the left hand side rather than the inscription down the centre or across the top adopted for Xuande wares. For example, see three of these boxes in the Palace Museum included op.cit., pls. 47-49; and another sold in these rooms, 11^th April 2008, lot 2947.