Lot description
of circular form, robustly potted, the domed cover with a slightly raised central panel and encircled by raised bands at the rims on both box and cover, all supported on a wide, slightly tapered foot, brightly painted overall in two tones of cobalt blue, the cover with a barbed medallion enclosing two confronting five-clawed dragons among lingzhi scrolls, one ascending the other descending, both with raised snouts and open jaws, their scaly bodies writhing amidst dense foliage, all within a double-line border, the sides decorated with eight barbed panels, four around the box and four around the cover, each enclosing a five-clawed dragon animated in a different stride among foliate lingzhi, divided by detached sprays of fungus supporting one of the 'Eight Treasures' (Babao), with the wish-granting pearl (baozhu), a coin (qian), the coral (shanhu), and a lozenge (fangsheng) on the cover, and an ingot (ding), a ruyi head, a rhinoceros horn (xijiao), and stylised chime (qing) on the box, the raised rim borders filled with swirling clouds between double lines repeated on the foot, the interior and the base left white, the thick footring and the inner rims left unglazed and fired brick red, the base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within double circles 32.7 cm., 12 7/8 in.
