A PARCEL-GILT BRONZE BOX AND COVER

17TH CENTURY

LENGTH: 11CM

The box is of square form with rounded corners. Its top is cast in gilt with a square cartouche, enclosing a mythical beast prancing before flowering peonies growing from rockwork below two birds in flight in various depths of relief, against a punched ground repeated in a band framing the central cartouche, all encircled by gilt-incised lotus scrolls and flying birds. The four sides of the box are similarly incised in gilt, depicting alternating decorations of undulating leafy lotus scrolls and clusters of prunus flowers on swirling waves. The ungilt surfaces of the bronze are patinated to a lustrous, dark, lacquer-like sheen.

十七世紀      銅局部鎏金瑞獸牡丹紋方蓋盒