Qing Dynasty Qianlong Carved Cinnabar Lacquer Box with Dragons and

East Asia, China, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period. A circular lidded box of carved cinnabar lacquer. Its domed lid is worked in deep, crisp relief with sinuous scaled dragons circling a flaming pearl. The dragons have bulging eyes, flowing whiskers, and splayed claws, and they twist across a dense ground of finely combed scrolling clouds and waves. The deep sides of the lid and the base continue the motif as rolling, crested swells, separated by a neat lip where the two halves meet. Inside, the box is finished in black lacquer with gilt floral decoration, a quiet contrast to the fiery red outside. The dragon chasing the pearl was the leading imperial emblem of Qing China, and it appears often on luxury lacquer made in the eighteenth century. Carved lacquer starts as the sap of the lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum), which is tapped by cutting the bark and scraping off the sap as it oozes out. The refined sap is applied in dozens, sometimes more than a hundred, very thin coats, and each coat must harden over days in controlled humidity. Only once enough thickness has built up can the carver cut down into it in relief, and a misjudged stroke cannot be undone. The technique was established in the Song dynasty (960 to 1279). Cinnabar-tinted red came to define Chinese carved lacquer, and the art reached a peak of virtuosity under the Qianlong Emperor, whose taste ran to dense, dynamic, technically exhaustive surfaces. In Chinese thought the dragon chasing a flaming pearl is usually read as a pursuit of wisdom, perfection, or cosmic energy. The pearl is sometimes linked to the moon or to the power to bring rain. Paired with clouds and waves, the scene places the dragons in their own element between sky and water, the realm over which the emperor claimed authority. A nearly identical lacquer box was listed at Sotheby's Paris on December 11, 2020 for an estimate of 15,000 to 20,000 euros (lot 112). Please note that the red pigment on this piece contains up to 79% mercury. Item # 205570

Estimate:£1,362.14

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