Carved lacquer box

A cinnabar lacquer box and cover, both rounded halves carved with an overall dense pattern of finger citrons growing on stalks with leaves, buds and flowers, all on a ground of square diapers.  The fruits themselves are carved with a pattern of triangular diapers.  The interior of the box is lacquered black.

• The inedible but sweet-smelling finger citron, also known as Buddha's Hand, is rarely seen as a decorative motif on Chinese carved lacquer. Its Chinese name, fu shou, can also be translated as ‘happy life’ and it would seem safe to assume that this small box was made as an auspicious gift.  The feature of all-over decoration on both top and bottom sections of the box is also unusual; such carving is more often associated with Ming dynasty incense boxes.  A slightly smaller box of similar shape, carved with a dense pattern of chrysanthemums signifying longevity, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.1   Another similar box, carved with peonies and bearing a Qianlong four-character mark on the inside, is in the Löw-Beer collection at the Linden Museum, Stuttgart.2

1. Wu, YC (ed.) Masterpieces of Chinese Carved Lacquer Ware in the National Palace Museum, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, no. 26
2. Kopplin, M. Im Zeichen des Drachen, von der Schönheit Chinesischer Lacke, Hommage an Fritz Löw-Beer, Stuttgart 2006, no. 84, p. 174