拍品描述：
《大明万历乙未年制》款
Description:
of circular form, exquisitely carved in varied levels of relief through the ochre-yellow lacquer to the cinnabar-red layer below, the top decorated with a descending five-clawed dragon chasing a flaming pearl amidst clouds, all against a cinnabar diaper ground, the sides of the cover and box decorated with bands of peony scrolls and coin motifs, the interior lacquered black and base cinnabar, the edge of the base gilt-incised with an eight-character reign mark dated to the yiwei year (in accordance with 1595), Japanese double wood box
19.8 cm
literature:
Tosetsu / A monthly journal published by the Japan Ceramic Society, vol. 749, May 2015, p. 78.
Nagomi [A monthly magazine by Tankosha], Tankosha, Tokyo, May 2018, p. 30.
exhibition:
Toyama Koenkai Chakai [Tea ceremony at the Toyama Art Club], Toyama, 2014.
provenance:
Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.
provenance:
This remarkable box belongs to a small group of Wanli lacquer wares that were carved with yellow dragons on a red ground. This group is characterised by extremely fine and deep carving, which has been made possible through the thickness of the lacquer wall that has been built up by numerous layers of lacquer. See a similar box formerly in the collection of Mr Hirota Matsushige, the founder of Kochukyo, and now housed in the Tokyo National Museum, accession no. TH-351.
Yellow lacquer boxes of this form are exceptionally rare, and there appear to be no recorded examples in the collections of Beijing Palace Museum or Taipei Palace Museum; the closest comparable works are found among a small group of yellow lacquer dishes. One example with 'dragon and phoenix' motif can be found in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Xia Gengqi, The Complete Collection of Treasures from the Palace Museum: Yuan and Ming Lacquer ware, Hong Kong, 2006, pl. 169; and a yellow lacquer plate with mountain, sea, cloud, and dragon designs in the Taipei Palace Museum, illustrated in He guang ti cai [Lacquer ware from the Palace Museum], Taipei, 2008, pl. 97.
Compare two boxes with a black-ground sea and dated to the yiwei year of Wanli (corresponding to 1595), one from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Shanghai, 2006, pl. 169, and the other sold in our New York rooms, 16th/17th September 2014, lot 548. See also a circular dish depicting one dragon amongst similarly rendered clouds above mountains and crashing waves, incised with a yiwei cyclical date, from the Kaisendo Museum, Yamagata, included in the exhibition Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, Osaka Municipal Art Museum, Osaka, 1980, cat. no. 2:31, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3572; and another from the collection of Sir Harry and Lady Garner, included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Arts of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1957, cat. no. 264.
The auspicious message of this dish, with the juxtaposition of the five-clawed imperial dragon surrounded by ruyi-shaped clouds, links the ruler to the wish for long life, a wish that is mirrored in the mountains that symbolise longevity and the sea which represents good fortune. The propitious message is carried through even into the colour scheme, where yellow, the imperial colour, is surrounded by red, the colour of good luck.
This rare and auspicious box was also used at a tea ceremony hosted by Kochukyo in Toyama in 2014, celebrating both Kochukyo’s 90th anniversary and then-president Mr Miyajima’s 77th birthday (kiju 喜寿), a significant and joyous milestone in Japanese culture.
来源
壶中居，东京
展览
富山后援会茶会，富山，2014年
出版
《陶说》，749期，2015年5月，页78
《なごみ》，淡交社，东京，2018年5月，页30
盒平顶，以红漆为地，满布菱花锦地纹，其上一层髹黄漆，减地浮雕降龙赶珠，间以如意云纹，上下盖缘皆饰连枝牡丹纹一周，口沿再雕钱花锦地一圈，圈足短直，足圈雕回纹一匝，盒内黑髹，外底朱红，整器雕工刀法深峻，细刀所到，又出茎叶细密之态，外底近足圈处横向戗金八字「大明万历乙未年制」款。
有明一朝设立二十四衙门，其中「御前作」「御用监」及「内官监」负责为内廷制作日常所需器皿，「御用监」则制作漆器及家具。目前所见带明代年号款识的漆器只有永乐、宣德、嘉靖、隆庆、万历、天启和崇祯七朝。万历朝之落款又别于前代，款式多样，颇有自己的风格，既有填金款，又有描金款；既有六字款，又有八字款；既有直款，又有横款。其中干支纪年款多位于器底内缘正上方。学者统计，漆器上所见万历干支纪年款共有十七个年份，其中以壬辰年（1582年）乙未年（1595年）出现最多，可知此二年宫中曾命令大量制作漆器。相关讨论参见张荣，《明代御用监造漆器的款识及辨伪款识》，载于《故宫博物院院刊》，2003年，第6期，页73至81。
剔黄漆器为雕漆中之稀罕品种，此盒雕刻精细，为剔黄漆器中之佳品。髹漆厚重，雕琢细致深邃为剔黄漆器的特色。壶中居创始人広田松繁藏一例，后赠于东京国立博物馆，馆藏编号TH-351。
遍索两岸故宫典藏，未见著录剔黄盖盒实例，惟有剔黄盘可资比较。可参考北京故宫藏一件「大明万历乙未年造」款剔黄龙凤纹盘，见夏更起编，《故宫博物院藏文物珍品全集．元明漆器》，香港，2006年，编号168；及台北故宫藏一件带同一年款之剔黄山海云龙纹圆盘，见《和光剔彩—故宫藏漆》，台北，2008年，编号97。
日本根津美术馆藏一件，为最似本品之他例，刻「大明万历己丑年制」款，见《根津美术馆藏品选·工艺篇》，东京，2001年，页168，编号200。清宫旧藏一件剔彩双龙纹盒，底刻万历己未纪年款，其剔黄纹饰与本器如出一辙，惟以红色及绿色锦纹为地，录于《故宫博物院藏文物珍品全集．元明漆器》，上海，2006年，图版169。一例售纽约苏富比2014年9月16-17日，编号548。一云龙纹圆盘例，底刻已未纪年款，为日本蟹仙洞博物馆旧藏，曾展于《中国美术展シリーズ5 明清の美术》，大阪市立美术馆，大阪，1980年，编号2:31，后售于香港佳士2011得年6月1日，编号3572。另一例为 加纳爵士伉俪旧藏，曾展于东方陶瓷协会举办《Arts of the Ming Dynasty》，伦敦，1957年，编号264。
此盒纹饰寓意吉祥。一双游龙张牙瞪眼，毛发飘舞，身形矫健，游弋于祥云之中，目光一致，追逐火珠。足下饰海水江崖，像征吉庆平安、寿山福海之美愿。黄、红二色为皇家专用色彩，亦寓吉祥之意。黄、红二色的组合，似有仿效嘉靖黄地红彩云龙纹罐之意，纹饰风格一脉相承，便可悉各作坊之间交流不绝、互促启思。
此盖盒亦于2014年用于富山后援会茶会，以庆祝壶中居创立90周年，以及时任会长宫岛先生的77岁喜寿。