Box, painted enamels on copper, Guangzhou, China, 1750-60, Qing dynasty

This egg shaped box has a copper body decorated with painted enamel. All designs are set against a yellow ground. Calligraphic inscriptions are written in regular script using black enamel upon both the lid and the body. There are two inscriptions on the lid. One sits above a series of stylised rocks in blue enamel. The other is incorporated into an image of a white stele (standing tablet) outlined in black, seen at an oblique angle. The text on the upper edge of the stele is in red. There are two inscriptions on the body of the box. One is set against a white ground within a square cartouche. The cartouche is framed within a two layered border, with a thin pink band outlined in black on the inside and thick turquoise border outlined in black on the outside. A wavy black line decorates the inside of the turquoise border. The second inscription on the body is written within the body of an image of an antique bronze vessel, known as a tou hu 投壺 or pitch pot in English. The pot in painted in predominantly white enamel with pink, blue and turquoise details, all outlined in black.

Purchased at Mrs Haliburton's sale

Purchased from Mrs. Haliburton, accessioned in 1868. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.

Painted enamels of this kind were commonly known in English as 'Canton enamel', after the main centre of their production in South China. They were popular export products in the 18_th and 19_th centuries. These copper wares were also produced in Beijing for imperial consumption. In Chinese they were referred to as 'foreign porcelain' (yangci 洋瓷).

667-1868