China, 14^th-16^th century. Of circular form with slightly rounded sides, the cover carved in high relief with two figures inside large buildings amid towering trees and rockwork, a third figure walking towards the buildings along a bridge below a small hut on a promontory, all against wave and diaper grounds to convey the water and sky. The sides of the box and cover each with a T-pattern band. The base and interiors lacquered black.

Provenance: The Mee-Din and Robert W. Moore Collection. Robert W. Moore is a famed California collector of Chinese and Korean art, whose passion began in the 1950s when he served in the US Army and was stationed in Korea. After his return to the United States, he began collecting Korean and later also Chinese works of art, and over the following decades became a knowledgeable, discerning, and influential collector.
Condition: Overall good condition with old wear, age cracks, few small nicks and light scratches, minor losses here and there.

Weight: 174.5 g
Dimensions: Diameter 8.3 cm

With a wood storage box, the cover with a Japanese inscription. (2)

Expert’s note: Recent research into the dating of carved lacquer has put forward the suggestion that boxes of this type with double key-fret decoration on the rim and landscape scenes with relatively large figures or rock formations on the cover can be dated as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The strongest argument in favor of this early dating is the relatively recent discovery of a similar, somewhat larger box in a group of tombs near Shanghai that belonged to the Ren family, of which the latest was datable to 1351 and the earliest to 1338.

Literature comparison: Compare a related box and cover, dated Yuan to early Ming dynasty and with a similar double key-fret border, illustrated by Ben Janssens, The Scholar’s Desk, 6-19 November 2011, London, p. 30-31, no. 14 (price on request according to pricelist). For a related box and cover, See James C.Y. Watt and Barbara Brennan Ford, East Asian Lacquer, The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, p. 107, no. 42. Another related box and cover, carved with key-fret bands to the sides, dated to the late Ming dynasty, is illustrated in Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Wenwu Zhenpin Quanji 45: Yuan Ming Qiqi (The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum 45: Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties), p. 243, no. 191.

Auction result comparison: Compare a red lacquer box and cover, of closely related form and with similar bands to the sides, dated to the Ming dynasty, 15^th-16^th century, at Christie’s New York in Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 13 September 2019, lot 919, sold for USD 43,750.

元明時期剔紅《亭臺人物》蓋盒
中國，十四至十六世紀。圓盒，蓋子上錦地高浮雕山林之間、水波之上的亭臺人物場景，其中第三個人物正在過橋。盒子側面飾有回紋。底部和內部漆成黑色。

來源：Mee-Din 與Robert W. Moore 收藏。Robert W. Moore是加州著名的中國和韓國藝術收藏家，他的收藏熱情始於 1950 年代。當時他在美國軍隊服役並駐紮在韓國。回到美國後，他開始收藏韓國和中國的藝術品，在之後幾十年裡，他成為了一位知識淵博、眼光敏銳、影響深遠的收藏家。
品相：整體狀況良好，有舊磨損、老化裂縫、少量小劃痕，局部有輕微缺損。

重量：174.5 克
尺寸：直徑8.3 釐米

木盒，上有日文注釋。(2)

專家注釋：根據近年對雕漆年代的研究，此類盒沿上的格紋，以及封蓋上人物或岩層較大的山水圖，最早可追溯到元代（1279-1368）。支持這種早期年代測定的最有力論據是最近在上海附近的元代任氏家族墓葬中發現了一個類似的、稍大的盒子，其中最晚的可追溯到 1351 年，最早可追溯到 1338 年。

拍賣結果比較：比較一件十五至十六世紀明代剔紅蓋盒，相似紋飾，見紐約佳士得Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art 2019年9月13日 lot 919, 售價USD 43,750。