A RARE LARGE CHINESE QIANGJIN AND TIANQI LACQUER CIRCULAR DRAGON BOX AND COVER

QIANLONG INCISED SIX-CHARACTER MARK
The top of the cover is finely incised highlighted in shades of lack reddish-brown lacquer with outlines etched in gold against an orange-brown ground to depict on the upper surface an upright full-faced dragon centered around a ‘flaming pearl’. depicted amidst clouds on a Wan diaper-ground within a key fret border. The sides of the box and cover are decorated with floral sprays and a band of cresting waves encircling the foot. The interiors and base are lacquered black with the exception of the incised and gilt reign mark to the centre of the base. Mark on base, six gilt KaiShu Character script, QianLong Reign Period.
Dimension: 10-1/8"diam. x 3-3/4"H

Lot Notes:
Compare to an 18th century polychrome lacquer rectangular box, similarly rendered in the qiangjin and tianqi techniques, in the National Palace Museum and illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors, Treasured Lacquer ware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, no. 155. The design of the current box is broadly based on that of a circular box decorated in the tianqi method with similar Ming-style Indian lotus scrolls, dated to the 16th/17th century, also in the National Palace Museum, ibid., no. 54.

General wear commensurate with age and indicative of use.