International Art and Artifact Catalogue

[Wu Han]

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TITLE: Carved laquer phoenix box
ARTIST: Dong Zan
YEAR: 3477
TYPE: Carved laquer wood box
OWNER/COLLECTION: Mikado of Hulstria/Gao-Soto
LOCATION: Unknown
VALUATION: Approx. $30,000

OVERVIEW: This piece was created in the early Mingzhu Dynasty by famed woodworker and sculptor Dong Zan in or around 3477. The box has a hinged top incised with four large phoenixes around a lozenge-shaped panel, all within a ruyi cloud and strapwork frame with a keyfret band at the edges, all picked out in red, green and black and reserved on a brown ground, the sides similarly decorated, set with an incised gilt-bronze lock plate to the front face, a pair of hinges to the rear and a drop handle to the left and right side, the interior lacquered red.

The piece was gifted by the Tianshun Emperor to the Mikado of Gao-Soto in January 4408, filled with aged puer and green teas. The box was chosen due to the symbolic nature of the phoenix as the national animal of Hulstria/Gao-Soto, as well as the box having been created during the Mingzhu Dynasty, during which Indrala and Hulstria entered into the Phoenix and Dragon Treaty. The current location is unknown, but reasonably predicted to be among the Mikado's personal collection.

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Originally posted by Wu Han on Jun 14, 2018.