Price guide to Chinese red lacquer boxes, also known as cinnabar. Although lacquer is used in many Asian cultures, the art of carving lacquer is unique to China. Lacquer is the resin (or sap) of a family of trees (rhus verniciflua) found throughout southern China. It is an amazing material that hardens when exposed to oxygen and becomes a natural plastic that is resistant to water and can withstand heat and certain acids.
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Carved lacquer, which is predominantly red, is often known as “cinnabar” lacquer, a reference to the use of this powdered mercury sulphide as the primary colorant. Reference: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A carved cinnabar lacquer eight-lobed box and cover
Jiaqing
Deftly carved through thick layers of rich red lacquer, the domed cover with a hexagonal cartouche featuring two scholars engaged in a game of weiqi, seated by a stream within a mountainous landscape, a young attendant bringing forth two cups of tea, a cottage with fence in the distance, the sides further decorated with swirling waves, the interior and base lacquered black. 32cm (12 5/8in) diam.
Sold for £ 10,000 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2017
A CHINESE RED CINNABAR LACQUER BOX & COVER, the sides decorated in deep relief with peony and formal foliage, 4.1in diameter & 3.9in high overall.
Sold for 190 GBP at John Nicholson’s Fine Art Auctioneers in 2018
A CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER ‘RED CLIFF’ OVAL BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER INCISED GILT MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The cover is delicately carved with an oval panel enclosing a scene of three scholars in a covered boat accompanied by an attendant and an oarsman on a river below a pine tree and towering rocky cliffs. The remainder of the box is carved with fish leaping from turbulent waves, the details are finely incised. The interior of the box base bears the reign mark and the underside of the cover also has the incised and gilt mark ‘Shibi bao he’, which may be translated as ‘Treasured box of the Red Cliff’.
4 ¼ in. (10.8 cm.) wide.
Sold for GBP 18,750 at Christies in 2017
Chinese 19th Century Carved Red Cinnabar Lacquer Hexagonal Box and Cover with a Landscape with figures, the sides in a brocade pattern. Inside and bottom in black lacquer. Small damages to red carving on sides and at edges where cover and base join. Height 2 7/8 inches (7.5 cm.) X diameter 7 inches (18 cm.).
Sold For: $35,000 at Eddie’s Auction in 2018
A GOOD QUALITY 19TH/20TH CENTURY CHINESE RED CINNABAR LACQUER CIRCULAR BOX & COVER, 5in diameter & 2.25in high.
Sold For: £280 at John Nicholson Auctioneers in 2018
A QUATRELOBED POLYCHROME LACQUER ‘DRAGON’ BOX AND COVER
QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
of quatrelobed form, the flat top deeply carved through layers of red, yellow and green lacquer with three dragons soaring sinuously amidst ruyi-shaped clouds, all against a fine diapered geometric ground, the straight sides decorated with four cartouches enclosing lush blooming crabapples and large leaves against a diapered ground, alternating with four of the Eight Treasures (babao), the ‘flaming pearl’, the ruyi bloom, the ingot and the horn well defined against a diapered ground of wan symbols, the box similarly decorated with cartouches of crabapples alternating with a ‘flaming pearl’, an ingot, coins and horns, the interior and base lacquered black
18.6 cm, 7 3/8 in.
Expertly carved with three dragons amongst swirling clouds as they pursue a ‘flaming pearl’, the craftsman’s expertise with the medium is evident in the vigorous rendering of the dragons as well as the various levels of carving that carefully reveal the layers of colour built up to allow for the polychrome effect. The rich yellow ground contrasts with the black lining of the clouds to together enhance the dynamism of the design. It is more common to find five-clawed dragons carved amongst crashing waves in cinnabar lacquer, although the dragon and cloud motif is often found in imperial wooden furniture.
Sold for 325,000 HKD at Sothebys in 2016
