QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
DIAMETER: 8.1CM
The bamboo root is carved into a box in the shape of two fruit, perhaps citrus or mango, conjoined by a branch of lush leaves. The box opens to reveal a raised compartmental ridge on both the box and its cover.
SIMILAR EXAMPLE
A bamboo root box and cover of similar shape and size is published in Qing Legacies: The Sumptuous Art of Imperial Packaging 金相玉質：清代宮廷包裝藝術, Macau, 2000, p. 79, Catalogue No. 11. The box would have held a miniature book.
PROVENANCE
Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1979
ILLUSTRATED
Bamboo & Wood Carvings of China and the East: Exhibition 14-29 November 1979, Spink & Son Ltd., London, p. 61, Catalogue No. 238
清中期竹根瓜果型蓋盒
