Footnotes

• 清乾隆 剔彩壽春圖圓盒
  
  The form and design of these impressive 'chun-character' lacquer boxes follows the Jiajing period prototype. The character 'chun' symbolises longevity, a well-known pursuit of the Jiajing Emperor. For a Jiajing mark and period example, see the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993, Catalogue no.61.
  
  The Qianlong Emperor rated these boxes so highly that he ordered for them to be made on a number of accasions. According to Yang Boda, an order of twelve boxes was issued for the Imperial workshops in 1758, with the name of the box 'Shouchun Baohe' (Precious Spring Longevity Box) inscribed on the piece.
  
  Qianlong period examples, such as the present lot, are extant in the Imperial collections in Beijing and Taipei; see the example now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Special Exhibition of Palace Lacquer Objects, Taipei, 1981, Catalogue no.67; and in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu Quanji, vol.8, Lacquer, pl.172. Further examples can be found in important collections such as the Avery Brundage Collection in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, illustrated by Sir H.Garner in Chinese Lacquer, London, 1979, pl.90; and another exhibited by the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic Society, ibid.,no.76.
  
  A very similar lacquer 'chun' box and cover, Qianlong, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong on 29 May 2007, lot 1413.

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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