A CHINESE THREE-COLOUR LACQUER PEACH-SHAPED BOX AND COVER

A CHINESE THREE-COLOUR LACQUER PEACH-SHAPED BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG 1736-95

The cover carved with Lü Dongbin with a sword behind his back and a flywhisk in his left hand, followed by a demon carrying a double-gourd, amidst rockwork and beneath a sweet gum tree and swirling clouds, all encircled by a border of cranes and bats in flight against ruyi-clouds, the box similarly decorated with bats above turbulent waves, the leaves and diaper ground carved in multiple layers of green and orange in relief, the base with a paper label for Spink & Son Ltd, 16.5cm. (2)

Provenance: from an English private collection, Sussex, purchased from Spink & Son Ltd.

Cf. J.Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, 2016, p.866, nos.1991-1992.

Lü Dongbin, an historical figure who lived in the Tang dynasty, is one of the Eight Immortals honoured as a great poet and swordsman. He is typically depicted dressed as a scholar, carrying a sword on his back, which is believed to ward off evil spirits.

清乾隆 剔彩呂洞賓桃式盒
來源：英國薩塞克斯郡私人收藏，購於Spink and Son Ltd。