This box is painted in a deep blue with pairs of five-clawed dragons among lingzhi (fungus) and foliage, each pair pursuing a sacred pearl. The panel to the incurving back with a single dragon. The underside has a Wanli six-character mark in blue within a decorated rectangle.

This would have been one of a set round a central box probably for containing sweetmeats. The pearl is one of the Eight Treasures. It is a charm against fire. The sacred flaming pearl pursued by dragons is said to represent the sun about to be swallowed by dragons.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), p. 34

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from the Collection of C.M. Woodbridge, sold Sotheby’s, London, 8 May 1951, lot 58 (20 guineas)

Location: Treasury, Gallery 2