M4832
Description
Chinese porcelain blue and white circular seal paste box and cover, he, the cover painted with Chang’E, the Moon Goddess, presenting an osmanthus branch to scholars visiting her in the Moon Palace whilst standing on clouds, Chang’E between two lady attendants holding fans and another with a banner, all on a terrace scene beneath overhanging branches, the male scholars on a blue washed stippled ground, the interior of the cover with Li Bai standing beside his attendant holding a wine jar, the box base with a continuous ‘master of the rocks’ river landscape scene with fishermen in a boat and a viewing pavilion, the interior of the base with Liu Hai standing beside his three-legged toad, the underside with a two character mark Qing wan, ‘pure plaything’, within a double ring.
Early Kangxi, circa 1670.
5 1/2 inches, 13.9 cm diameter.
Provenance & Additional Information
- Formerly in the collection of Yen- Chiu Pei (1903-1980), Hong Kong.
- Formerly in a Canadian private collection, thence by family descent.
- Sold by China Guardian Hong Kong in their Spring Auction, Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 31st March 2019, lot 1079.
- This box is discussed and illustrated by Stuart Marchant in Marchant – One Hundred Years, Volume II; 2001-2025, no. 1851, p. 413.
- A figural box of similar size and design, also painted on the interior with Immortals, from the collection of Jeffrey Stamen, was sold by Sotheby’s New York in their auction of The Jie Rui Tang Collection Part II, 19th March 2019, lot 301, and is illustrated by Jeffrey P. Stamen, Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed, Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, no. 35; another with ‘master of the rocks’ design, from the same collection, was sold by Sotheby’s New York in their auction of The Jie Rui Tang Collection Part I, 20th March 2018, lot 301; a further related box with Buddhist lions on the cover and with figures on the interior from the collection of R. H. R. Palmer, was sold by Christie’s London in their auction of Arts of Asia Including the Palmer Family Collection, 12th November 2025, lot 41.
Condition
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