A rare Guri lacquer box and cover, Song dynasty | 宋 剔犀「天下太平」、「壽」紋圓蓋盒

The results of carbon-14 testing, RCD-9246, are consistent with the dating of this lot.

It is very rare to find guri lacquer boxes of this form with inscriptions incorporated in the design; only one closely related example appears to be published. Within the medallion are four characters tian xia tai ping ('may peace prevail throughout the world'), which further enclose a shou character meaning longevity. The medallion, circular with an opening or 'eye' (yan) at the centre, is in the form of a coin (qian), which acts as a pun for 'before your eyes' (yanqian) in Chinese.

Guri is a Japanese term used to describe the geometric scroll pattern as seen on this piece. This design is also known as the 'pommel scroll' pattern for the bracket-shaped scroll resembling the pommel of a Chinese sword. Such patterns were cut with a deep V-shaped profile through alternate layers of different-coloured lacquer - a technique in Chinese known as tixi (through-cut lacquer). As pommel scrolls or geometric designs were carved into the lacquer, the layered colours, such as black, red or yellow, are revealed in the grooves. This ingenious technique appears to have developed around the Song dynasty (960-1279), reaching its perfection in the latter half of the period, as evidenced by the various objects of this type unearthed from the Song tombs in recent decades. This piece is particularly outstanding for the masterfully carved design that wraps around the sides of the box, a technique that required meticulous planning, as well as a high level of skill and confidence.

Recent excavations unveil that wares of this type were produced as early as the Song dynasty. See, for example, a guri circular box unearthed from a Southern Song (1127-1279) tomb of 1235 in Fuzhou, Fujian province, illustrated in the exhibition catalogue The Colours and Forms of Song and Yuan China. Featuring Lacquerwares, Ceramics and Metalwares, Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2004, cat. no. 56c.

See two related guri boxes of rectangular section appeared at auction, both carved with similar ruyi-shaped pommels which also repeated on the rounded sides, but without the coin design and inscriptions, one attributed to the Southern Song dynasty, included in the Nezu exhibition ibid., cat. no. 62, subsequently sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31st May 2010, lot 2026; the other attributed to the Southern Song / Yuan (1279-1368) dynasty, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2018, lot 3658.