A FINE LARGE LIGHT TURQUOISE-GLAZED BOX AND COVER

Description:

China, Fujian province, possibly Dehua ware, late Southern Song or early Yuan dynasty, 14th c
D. 17,8 cm
This round box with ist domed lid is decorated overall with raised tendril scrolls forming concetric circles. It is made from white porcelain covered with a shiny light turquoise glaze. The decoration resembles engravings on lacquer objects of the same period and silver boxes.
Max Müller (1867-1960), German Consul in Hankow, collected in China between 1905 and 1912, by descent to his daughter Irmgard Müller-Doertenbach (1909-2011) given 1993 to the present owner 1993
A piece found in a batch of silver ware discovered in the tomb of Xu Jun at Chayuanshan, near Fuzhou in Fujian, is similar in shape and decorative style to the porcelain one presented here. The quality of the piece appears to indicate that it was a creation from the Zhulonggong kilns at Dehua. Examples have been unearthed in both peninsular and insular South East Asia and there are several in Western Museums altough not of that large size. A very similar but smaller box is preserved in the collection of the Baur Foundation Geneva (FB.CM.2004.QB56) and has been published by Monique Crick ‚Chinese Trade Ceramics from South-East Asia - Collection of Ambassador and Mrs. Charles Müller‘, Foundation Baur, Geneva 2010, no. 99, pp. 198-199. Another similar box was sold at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet Hongong,
16.5.1977, lot 41 - Few small frits or very small chips along the rims and the stand, good condition