17th Century
Diameter: 9.8cm
Weight: 836 grams
The box and its cover is heavily cast with eight-lobed petals framing the central mallow-shaped top. The box rests on a thick shallow base. The base is cast in relief with the mark Tiandi yijia chun 天地一家春 “Springtime for the One Family of Heaven and Earth” within a recessed cartouche.
The bronze is glossy in finish and patinated to a dark toffee tone.
The original source of the text is attributed to Yang Juyuan 楊巨源 (755-?), from the fourth of his 春日奉獻聖壽無疆詞十首Ten Poems on “Wishing His Majesty Endless Longevity On This Spring Day”, published in Quan Tang Shi 全唐詩 (Complete Verse of the Tang) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1960, reprint 1979), 333:3734. One couplet of which states:
| 雲山九門曙 | As cloudy mountains outside the Nine Gates gleam, |
| 天地一家春 | It’s springtime for the entire family of Heaven and Earth. |
| 十七世紀 銅葵花式印泥盒 |
| 「天地一家春」款 |
