Provenance:
- With Galerie Duchange, Paris 2024
Condition Report Available
€ 18,500
This object can be viewed in our gallery.
A rectangular box with a fitted lid, standing on four right-angled feet. It is decorated on the biscuit with polychrome enamels, in greens and iron-red with small areas of yellow and blue. The top of the lid and the long sides of the body have large rectangular panels with a black diaper pattern on a green ground. All the panels are framed by a narrow yellow band, edged with a fine black line. The centre of the lid has a large rectangular reserve, featuring a landscape with a large spotted red deer and a pine tree. The edge of the lid is green with a black wavy pattern. The long sides of the box, each have a frolicking lion-dog playing with a green-ribboned brocade ball. Both short sides, are decorated with black scrolling foliage on a green ground, with scattered red peony heads and some blue leaves along the edges. The base and the underside of the lid are unglazed.
This box was probably originally intended for a scholar’s studio and used for storage of seal paste. The thin layer of glaze lining the interior of the box, would have protected the biscuit porcelain from staining by the red seal-paste. The decoration on the box is very auspicious and particularly fitting for a Chinese scholar.
The red spotted deer, is one of the most potent auspicious symbols in Chinese culture. A deer 鹿 (lù), has the same pronunciation as 禄 (lù) - meaning official salary or emolument. Its depiction therefore represents a wish for a successful career as an official, with all its financial benefits. Particularly the red deer is strongly associated with the Daoist cult of longevity, as they were said to be able to locate and eat the fungus of immortality (lingzhi). The evergreen pine tree reinforces this message of longevity. Frolicking lion dogs (狮子, shīzi), not only represent protection and prosperity, but also a joyful, abundant life.
A similar box in size and style, but with a floral decoration, is in the Albuquerque Foundation, Sintra (inv.nr. 833). Another is in Musée Guimet, Paris (inv.nr. G5254). The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, has a comparative but smaller square box (acc.nr. C.1078 & A-1910). The Art Institute of Chicago also has a related rectangular box, but with a sliding lid and figural scenes on the inside (inv.nr. 1929.854a-b).
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