AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND VERY LARGE CARVED LACQUER CIRCULAR BOX AND COVER

Incised Jiajing six-character mark and of the period

Footnotes

明嘉靖 剔彩萬壽雲鳳紋圓盒
「大明嘉靖年製」楷書填金刻款

The present lot is extremely rare for its imposing size and a vestige of the remarkable lacquer carving for the Ming Imperial Court created during the reign of the Jiajing emperor. The gnarled pine tree formed as a shou character (meaning 'longevity') is typical of lacquer work from the Jiajing reign where shou characters are frequently depicted formed from smoke, clouds, bamboo or pine trees, etc. See a similar and smaller multicoloured round lacquer box with the carving of pine trees, bamboos and Chinese plum trees in the Qing Court Collection, the 'Three Friends of Winter' joining to form the fu, lu and shou characters with the shou character very similar to the one on the present lot, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p.188, pl.146; also see a smaller cinnabar lacquer box with the carving of pine trees forming a shou character but without a wan character, Jiajing, also in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in ibid., p.151, no.112. This motif was also popular on the blue and white wucai porcelain during the same period except the characters formed from the plants vary on different places. Compare a large blue and white bowl, Jiajing period, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1992, p.148, pl.57.

Although auspicious symbolism is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and seen across all periods of time, the Jiajing emperor was particularly steeped in Daoist ritual and practice, devoting a great deal of time to alchemy and finding the elixir of longevity.

The Jiajing emperor's devotion to Daoism became such that ministers and officials who wanted to gain his favour at Court competed by writing Daoist verses and memorials laden with Daoist symbolism. Furthermore, the emperor's strenuous demands on his Palace ladies for the red lead used in alchemical concoctions he took to prolong his life led to the so-called Palace plot of the Renyin year (1542), when 16 Palace ladies (who may only have subsisted on mulberry leaves and rainwater to keep themselves pure) attempted to assassinate the emperor. The plot failed, but the emperor removed himself from the Forbidden City entirely and devoted himself to the life of a Daoist hermit. The attempt on his life may have led the Jiajing emperor to have become even more concerned with issues of longevity and mortality.

Similar or related cinnabar lacquer boxes with auspicious symbolism for longevity, dating to the Jiajing period, can thus be seen in the Qing Court Collection. See a smaller carved cinnabar lacquer 'cloud and cranes' box and cover, Jiajing six-character mark and of the period, the 'six cranes' imagery represents ('liu he tong chuen') 六合同春 and longevity, illustrated in Kangxi, Empereur de Chine: 1662-1722: La Cité Interdite à Versailles, Paris, 2004, pl.149; see also a related cinnabar lacquer circular box but with a carving of dragon and clouds and the Chinese character for longevity (shou), Jiajing six-character mark and of the period, illustrated in Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2006, p.175, no.133.

The scenes depicted on Ming Dynasty lacquer pieces usually have varied diaper grounds to indicate the sky, the land and the sea. It is therefore particularly rare to have the ruyi cloud design representing the Immortal Land on the present Jiajing period lot, which stems from the emperor's devotion to Daoism. Compare with a carved polychrome lacquer box with cranes flying over a pavilion with shou character design, Jiajing six-character mark and of the period, exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, illustrated in Honouring Tradition and Heritage: Min Chiu Society at Sixty, Hong Kong, 2020, pl.169.

蓋盒呈圓形，平頂，圈足，通體剔彩有紅、綠二色。蓋面中央雕一株老松，自太湖石中拔地而起，枝幹彎曲纏繞成碩大的「壽」字，松樹正上方置一「萬」字，空白處滿佈如意雲紋，呈壬字形，左右兩邊樹上壽桃纍纍，枝葉茂盛，共結八果，桃樹下方飾牡丹、靈芝，各種紋飾都寓意長壽，富貴吉祥。蓋外圍飾鳳紋及鶴紋，飛於如意雲紋間，口沿雕纏枝花卉紋，盒身亦同作鳳鶴紋，盒底掃黑漆，中間刻填金六字楷書「大明嘉靖年製」直款。

此盒尺寸碩大，甚為罕見。明代嘉靖時期雕漆圖案常以煙霧、雲氣、竹木或松樹等自然元素，纏繞轉化成九迭蜿蜒的「壽」字或其他寓意吉祥的字眼，別具特色。可參考一件清宮舊藏、尺寸較小的剔紅松竹梅圓盒，歲寒三友依石攀繞而上，至頂端盤結成福、祿、壽三字，其壽字同樣由枝幹彎曲纏繞而成與本盒可資比較，出版於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：元明漆器》，香港，2006年，頁188，圖版146；另參考一件尺寸較小的明嘉靖剔紅蓋盒，蓋面同有松樹盤纏成的「壽」字，但無「萬」字，裝飾手法與本盒類同，見同上，頁151，圖版112。如此獨特的圖案也能見於同朝的青花、五彩瓷器，但吉祥字眼會有所不同，見香港天民樓藏明嘉靖青花福壽康寧大碗，見《天民樓青花瓷特展》，鴻禧美術館，台北，1992年，頁148，圖57。

嘉靖皇帝尊崇道教，信奉煉丹術，渴求長生之道，因此在位年間的宮廷藝術多與道教及長壽主題相關。這類帶有長壽寓意的漆盒常見於清宮舊藏，可參考一件明嘉靖剔紅雲鶴紋蓋盒，刻「大明嘉靖年製」款，盒面飾仙鶴六隻，象徵六合同春和長壽，載於《Kangxi, Empereur de Chine: 1662-1722: La Cité Interdite à Versailles》，巴黎，2004年，圖版149。另見一件相關明嘉靖剔紅雲龍壽字紋蓋盒，刻「大明嘉靖年製」款，出版於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：元明漆器》，香港，2006年，頁175，圖版133。

明代雕漆承傳元代的裝飾手法，在景物的背景上刻細緻的幾何錦地紋，以示天、水、地三個不同的空間，而本盒的地紋獨特一格，與一般常見的明代雕漆不同，罕有地陰刻如意雲紋，圖案背景儼如道家仙境，契合嘉靖帝的宗教喜好。可參考一件曾於香港藝術館展出的明嘉靖剔彩海屋添壽蓋盒，刻「大明嘉靖年製」款，飾一對仙鶴在屋頂上盤飛，其如意紋地跟本盒如出一轍，著錄於《聚道傳承—敏求精舍六十周年》，香港，2020年，圖169。