443.
A CLOISONNÉ ENAMEL TIERED BOX AND COVER
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period
9,9 x 11 cm
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5231.
The shape and the style of decoration of this two-tiered box are clearly inspired by cloisonné container of the Xuande period (see for example H. Brinker – A. Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné. Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Zürich 1985, nn. 1-2).
Early Ming cloisonné items are very rare because their production was extremely scant, strictly controlled by the Yuyongjian, a division of the Neifu (“The Inner Treasure”) which had the responsibility to supply the Imperial household. During the Qianlong period, when the manufacturing of cloisonné reached a peak in term of quality and quantity, pieces from the glorious Xuande period was therefore available to serve as source of inspiration.
The shape of these early Ming prototypes, and consequently also this later version, seems to be inspired by the form of similar tiered lacquer boxes produced already during the Yuan dynasty.
