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Lot 111
A rare Imperial cinnabar lacquer six-lobed box and cover Incised-gilt Qianlong six-character and Fuqin Baohe four-character marks and of the period
30 May 2017, 15:00 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific PlaceHK$500,000 - HK$800,000
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A rare Imperial cinnabar lacquer six-lobed box and cover
Incised-gilt Qianlong six-character and Fuqin Baohe four-character marks and of the period
Deftly carved through thick layers of rich red lacquer, the domed cover with a hexagonal cartouche featuring an elderly scholar seated by a stream under a pine tree playing qin, gazing at his two young attendants carrying scholarly objects across a bridge amidst rocky outcrops, wutong and cypress trees, the cover's side decorated with six cartouches enclosing various floral sprays; the box similarly carved with six cartouches enclosing mountainous landscapes with deer and cranes, all reserved on a floral-honeycomb diaper ground and encased within key-fret borders, the interior and base lacquered black, the interior of the cover incised and gilt with a four-character fuqin baohe mark in kaishu script, 'Treasured Box of Fingers Playing the Qin', the base with incised and gilt six-character kaishu mark, fitted box. 28cm (11in) wide (3).
Deftly carved through thick layers of rich red lacquer, the domed cover with a hexagonal cartouche featuring an elderly scholar seated by a stream under a pine tree playing qin, gazing at his two young attendants carrying scholarly objects across a bridge amidst rocky outcrops, wutong and cypress trees, the cover's side decorated with six cartouches enclosing various floral sprays; the box similarly carved with six cartouches enclosing mountainous landscapes with deer and cranes, all reserved on a floral-honeycomb diaper ground and encased within key-fret borders, the interior and base lacquered black, the interior of the cover incised and gilt with a four-character fuqin baohe mark in kaishu script, 'Treasured Box of Fingers Playing the Qin', the base with incised and gilt six-character kaishu mark, fitted box. 28cm (11in) wide (3).
Footnotes
清乾隆 御製剔紅撫琴寶盒 陰刻填金「大清乾隆年製」及「撫琴寶盒」楷書款
The Qianlong emperor oversaw the production of court lacquer wares, with particular reference to cinnabar lacquer boxes and covers with dual Imperial marks, as exemplified by the present lot. According to the archives of the lacquer workshop in the Imperial Palace Workshops, Zaobanchu, during the Qianlong reign between 1771 and 1775, a number of specifically carved lacquer baohe or 'Treasure Boxes' were produced by order of the emperor, with specially inscribed four-character names as well as the Imperial reign marks; See Lin Mun-lee, Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors: Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p.117.
The present lot belongs to a group of deeply carved cinnabar lacquer boxes and covers which successfully project a three-dimensional visual effect and a sense of movement through precise knifework and masterful execution. However, it is rare for its hexalobed form, unlike other circular and quatrelobed examples more commonly found in museum collections. Compare a hexalobed cinnabar lacquer box and cover, Qianlong six-character and Jixian Baohe marks and period, illustrated by Lin Mun-lee, ibid., pl.108; for further variously-shaped examples of Qianlong and Baohe marked cinnabar lacquer boxes in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Lin Mun-lee, ibid., pls.109-123; and for related examples of lobed boxes bearing a Qianlong dual mark, from the Qing Court collection, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2006, pls.7-8.
A smaller hexalobed cinnabar lacquer box and cover, Qianlong Xiaoxia Baohe marks and period, was sold in these rooms, 2 June 2016, lot 20.
盒六瓣式，高身，圈足，開光外作錦地，蓋面隨形開光，內雕伯牙撫琴圖，盒壁上下各開五光，上壁雕牡丹花卉，下壁開光內各雕松鶴及仙鹿，盒內及底髹黑漆，蓋內有陰刻填金「撫琴寶盒」楷書款，器底刻「大清乾隆年製」楷書款。
乾隆皇帝極力推行宮廷漆器製作，最早在乾隆三年就傳旨製作帶有年款之漆器。細查清宮檔案，可知此類寶盒為乾隆三十六年（1771）至乾隆四十年（1775）所作。與仿明代漆器風格不同，此類寶盒雕刻大多借用古代典故，頗具文學意涵。有關乾隆一朝雕漆風格的論述，請閱台北國立故宮博物院，《和光剔采 – 故宮藏漆》，台北，2008年，頁117。
此類雙款寶盒雖在傳世品中多見，但六瓣形高身者則見不多，見台北故宮博物院藏一件清乾隆剔彩集仙寶盒，同樣為六瓣高身形，著錄於《和光剔采 – 故宮藏漆》，台北，2008年，頁121，編號108。另見香港邦瀚斯曾售出一件清乾隆消夏寶盒，盒身稍扁但同為六瓣形，2016年6月2日，拍品20。台北故宮博物院藏有其他形制的寶盒，見同著錄，編號109-123；另見北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏中有清乾隆五瓣形「書聖寶盒」及「洗桐寶盒」兩例，盒形稍扁但紋飾佈局類似，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：清代漆器》，香港，2006年，編號7及8。
香港邦瀚斯曾售出清乾隆「消夏寶盒」一例，同為六瓣式，但尺寸略小，2016年6月2日，拍品20。