A LARGE CINNABAR LACQUER CARVED 'BOYS AT PLAY' QUATREFOIL BOX AND COVER

Qianlong

Qianlong
The cover exquisitely carved with a scene of boys engaged in various pursuits such as flying a kite, fishing, reading, all in a terraced garden with pavilion and a mountainous landscape across a lake in the distance, the sides with panels enclosing flowers interspersed with the bajixiang, the box similarly decorated. 32.1cm (12 5/8in) wide. (2).

清乾隆 剔紅庭園嬰戲圖海棠式蓋盒

Provenance: an English private collection

來源：英國私人收藏

The 'boys at play' motif emerged as an offshoot of the 'One hundred boys' design. The motif was already found on stone carvings of the Han dynasty and in paintings of the Jin (265-420) and Tang (618-906) dynasties. It became popular in the Song dynasty with painters such as Su Hanchen (1127-1189) and Li Song (1166-1243) but it was most widely used in the Ming and Qing periods notably on ceramics, textiles and lacquer. The theme of boys at play symbolises the wish for many sons, but also joy and happiness.

A related carved cinnabar lacquer box and cover of similar quatrefoil form, Qianlong, but with a motif of dragons, is illustrated in The Creation of Natural Immensity and Grandeur: The Yang Ming Shan Fang Collection of Lacquer from Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing, 2020, no.53. See also a circular cinnabar lacquer 'boys at play' box and cover, Qianlong, with similar motif, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 16 May 2018, lot 38.