A rare & unusual Qianlong style faux carved cinnabar lacquer “5 brocades box”

Description

The top and sides in red faux carved cinnabar lacquer over a dark green diaper ground. The interior and base in glossy black. On the top of the box and carved in low relief against a varying green diaper ground and hemmed in within a raised convex bead, are 4 medallions encircling a central 5th medallion. Each medallion delicately carved and representing a different theme consisting of lotus, peony, an unknown auspicious symbol, chrysanthemum and camellia. In between each circular section and also framed within a raised convex bead with curly grass are four sharp corners containing stylized passion flowers buds. The sides deeply carved with curly grass and flowers terminating in corners of archaistic geometric patterns, set against rough green ground.

This box is a quintessential example of the refined and intricately carved lacquer of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Shallow but finely carved, elegant and beautifully balanced. Its decoration draws from themes used on Qianlong style carved lacquer as well as the biochromatic red & green lacquer also seen on pieces from the period. However, upon closer inspection one will notice certain departures from the official Qianlong wares. One such example is the sharp crisp un-sanded edges that Qianlong wares are more often than not known for. Yet on this box, many of the surfaces appear to have been carefully sanded and waxed. Another departure is the color, a characteristic not easily communicated in photos but discernable to the expert’s eye. This could be a characteristic of non-imperial wares made in Suzhou (the main center of production at the time) or perhaps come from a commercial workshop in another area.

Or it could simply could allude to a variation in a proposed Qianlong dating. This box is, in fact, an extremely rare, almost perfect facsimile of Qianlong wares, including exhibiting knife marks from carving, discoloration in certain places and mild patina/dirt build up. It is a clever and impeccably well-made work of art in itself, worthy of study to any serious lacquer collector. Only under magnification with a loupe, and not easily visible to the naked eye, do we notice that the dark green base layer has been carefully applied with a brush. The finely carved, ruby colored substrate is of an unknown material that seems to be neither wood nor resin, which makes it extremely unique.

This particular design is popular and has been reproduced in modern times; I have come in contact with more than one copy. Most such contemporary reproductions are often erroneously labeled as 19th century and are low quality fakes. Flatly carved, garish and pale in comparison to the elegance of this one, they are immediately evident as recent resin based copies. With such a high level of quality not normally available in inexpensive commercial 20^th century export product, it’s possible that this is a 19^th century work made to imitate 18^th century works. Such copies are not a modern phenomenon. High quality antique copies of genuine older carved lacquer have been discussed since antiquity, in both historical records like the Ko Ku Yao Lun all the way up into more contemporary times by writers like Sir Harry Garner& Derek Clifford.