A superb and extremely rare imperial turquoise-inlaid gold filigree twin box and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period

Commissioned by Bao Tai (active ca. 1780) for the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) in 1783.

Qing Court Collection.

Parish-Watson & Company, Inc., Chicago, 1934.

American Private Collection, acquired by 1972, and thence by descent.

The Gold Treasure of the Emperor Chien Lung of China, Parish-Watson & Company, Inc., New York, 1934, cat. no. 9.

The year was 1783. The Qianlong Emperor had been ruling China for almost fifty years with scholarly passion and imperial ambition. Pushing China's borders far into the west and uniting a diverse population under his reign, Qianlong was one of the last great emperors of China; a figure worthy of fear and admiration in equal measure. How, then, to pay homage to such a figure? What gifts could one bestow that would be befitting of the Son of Heaven? What do you get the man who has everything?   

This was the question faced by minister Bao Tai (active ca. 1780). After three years in Tibet as the assistant minister, meeting with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, fending off the risk of war and building China's alliances to the south, Bao Tai left his post for newer pastures guarding the distant northern borders of Heilongjiang. Before he left, however, it was time for a gift as a mark of tribute to his sovereign and employer. The result: a remarkable set of solid gold scholar's objects, adorned with gold filigree and inlaid with elaborate turquoise designs. This assemblage of almost 6 kilograms of pure gold was truly an imperial treasure, the likes of which are almost unparalleled in the history of craftsmanship. Over a century and a half later, the sinologist Berthold Laufer (1874-1934) noted of the group:

'This set, both from a technical and artistic viewpoint, is absolutely unique in the world and the most perfect achievement of the goldsmith's craft that has ever been attained anywhere by human hands. The gold objects found in Tutankhamen's tomb are dwarfed and eclipsed by this production of a master mind, which baffles description. It is useless to attempt to describe the processes of its workmanship, which is so microscopically fine and so fairy-like delicate that its proper appreciation is only possible when studied under a powerful magnifying lens. We can but admire the enchanting color harmony of the gold with the charming blues of turquois (sic.) and lapis lazuli, the simplicity and purity of style, and the exquisite choice of decorative elements.'

In the present lot, we are delighted to present one of these treasures: a 'twin box' adorned with elaborate gold openwork and splashes of turquoise prunus blossoms. The charming shape of the vessel, which celebrates the purity of the circle’s simple form and the technical mastery in distorting it, was a favorite of the Qianlong Emperor and is a common feature of pieces in the imperial collection, from double-vases hewn from jade to similar twin boxes worked in lacquer. Compare, for example, a lacquer 'twin box' of square section from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 120. 

The present vessel, however, is far from commonplace. Gold vessels like this piece were generally restricted for use only by the Emperor and his closest entourage. Perhaps serving as a rebus for the emperor himself (huang being a homophonous term for both 'emperor' and 'gold'), gold vessels embody the very essence of imperial power and boast of the great might of an empire able to control distant gold mines and train master craftsmen. Even the use of turquoise inlay was not coincidental. A mineral long treasured in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the turquoise of this vessel likely came from the Nishapur mines in modern-day Iran which had provided Tibetan sculptors with the highest quality turquoise for centuries. Combining the imperial splendor of gold with the luminosity and Tibetan associations of turquoise, Bao Tai's box eloquently praises the Qianlong Emperor's strong ties to his Tibetan subjects and his Buddhist faith. Qianlong himself had been known to combine these two materials as a symbol of his personal piety and ties to Tibetan Buddhism. Compare, for example, a solid gold stupa inlaid with hardstones, including turquoise, crafted on Qianlong's orders to store the remains of his mother's hair, illustrated and discussed in Theresa Tse Bartholomew, 'A Gold Stupa for the Empress Dowager's Hair,' China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of the Emperor Qianlong, The Field Museum, Chicago, 2004, pp 152-3.

This masterpiece was received by the Qing court in the twelfth month of Qianlong's forty-eighth year on the throne (1783) and is recorded with the other pieces given by Bao Tai in the archives of the box-making department (Xiabiaozuo) of the Imperial Workshop (Zaobanchu) alongside an order for bespoke leather-bound boxes for each piece completed the following year (Fig. 1). This group was then passed from Qianlong to his successors. Taken by Empress Dowager Cixi and her entourage to Xi'an fu in 1900 – a testament to its treasured status – this was one of the rare pieces to avoid the fires and chaos of war. Only when the young Emperor Puyi turned to the collection as collateral for a loan on which he later foreclosed, did these treasures finally enter the public domain and were exhibited for the first time as a group by Parish-Watson & Company Ltd. in Chicago at the 'Century of Progress' International Exposition of 1933-1934 (Fig. 2). Following the success of the Chicago exhibition, the group was scattered and joined important collections around the world. 

Of the exhibited group of eighteen, the current whereabouts of only four other pieces is now known: a ruyi scepter inlaid with the eight Buddhist elements in the Freer Collection at the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington (accession no. 0F1937.45) (Fig. 3); a filigree dish (accession no. 2013.463.A,.B) and bottle vase (accession no. 2013.462.A,.B) (Fig. 4), each with a matching stand, from the Thompson Collection, now in the collection of Museum of Fine Arts Houston, illustrated in Beatrice Chan, 'The Charles Quitter Thompson Bequest: An Enduring Veneration of Qing Dynasty Imperial Ceramics,' Arts of Asia, vol. 46, cat. no. 6, November-December 2016, pp 69-70; and a censer, of globular form inlaid with turquoise and lapis lazuli, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2010, lot 2614 (Fig. 5).

As Laufer rightly points out, these pieces are exceptional in terms of the quality of their construction and design. A few related gold filigree boxes from the period are known. Compare a gold box of quatrefoil design with a turquoise design of cranes and trees formerly in the British Royal Collection, now in the collection of the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, illustrated in Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry: Chinesisches Gold und Silber, Zurich, 1994, no. 311 (together with a related wrist-support, ibid., no. 312.); a cinquefoil filigree box sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 21st May 1987, lot 612; and two sets of filigree boxes of Daoist subject matter with inlaid gemstones: a set of five from the collection of Mr and Mrs Augustus L. Searle, bequeathed to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (accession nos 41.57.2; 41.57.3A,B; 41.57.1A,B; 43.26.1A,B; 43.26.2A,B); and a pair from the collection of the Countess Mona von Bismarck, sold at Christie's London, 8th July 2021, lot 1.