A rare wucai 'boys' box and cover, Mark and period of Wanli 明萬曆 五彩嬰戲圖蓋罐 《大明萬曆年製》款

It is extremely rare to find drum-form boxes, complete with their original covers, among Ming dynasty porcelain. The usage of these boxes is still not fully understood. The two most frequently cited explanations for the form are as containers for weiqi stones or as cricket cages. The rounded sides and fitted domed covers would work well for both purposes. The height of the present example suggests it would be better suited for crickets as the depth of the form would make scooping out playing pieces somewhat difficult.

While no other boxes of identical size and decoration to the present example appear to be known, related examples include a 'dragon' box and cover in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Lu Minghua, Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: Ming Imperial Porcelain, Shanghai, 2007, pl. 3-104; a 'dragon' box without its cover in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated in Suzanne Valenstein, The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1992, cat. no. 85; a 'dancers' box and cover, formerly in the collection of T. T. Tsui, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 4 (I), London, 1994, cat. no. 1704, later sold in these rooms, 7th April 2011, lot 70; another 'dancers' box and cover in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 748. Compare also a 'mythical beast’ box and cover sold in these rooms, 5th October 2016, lot 110.

明代瓷器中，鼓式蓋罐極罕，而如本品飾嬰戲圖之例，他例難尋。此類蓋罐常被定為圍棋罐或蟋蟀罐。本品略高身，較宜作蟋蟀相鬥之用。

上海博物館藏一萬曆款雲龍逐珠例，圖見陸明華，《上海博物館藏品研究大系：明代官窰瓷器》，上海，2007年，圖版 3-104。紐約大都會博物館藏一罐，與上海藏品類近，蓋佚失，圖見 Suzanne Valenstein，《The Herzman Collection of Chinese Ceramics》，紐約，1992年，圖版 85。

另可參考相近之萬曆款五彩舞蹈人物蓋罐，其一先後為徐展堂及玫茵堂舊藏，載於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，倫敦，1994年，卷四（上），編號 1704，後售於香港蘇富比2011年4月7日，編號 70。東京出光美術館亦藏一舞蹈人物例，錄於《出光美術館藏品圖錄：中國陶瓷》，東京，1987年，圖版 748。再比較一萬曆款五彩瑞獸紋蓋罐，為巴黎名藏，後售於香港蘇富比2016年10月5日，編號 110。