A RARE PAIR OF QIANGJIN ENGRAVED AND GILT-DECORATED RED-LACQUERED WOOD SUTRA COVERS - photo 1
A RARE PAIR OF QIANGJIN ENGRAVED AND GILT-DECORATED RED-LACQUERED WOOD SUTRA COVERS - photo 2

A RARE PAIR OF QIANGJIN ENGRAVED AND GILT-DECORATED RED-LACQUERED WOOD SUTRA COVERS

Starting price
$ 70 000
Auction dateClassic
24.03.2023 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 913023
Lot 1212 | A RARE PAIR OF QIANGJIN ENGRAVED AND GILT-DECORATED RED-LACQUERED WOOD SUTRA COVERS
A RARE PAIR OF QIANGJIN ENGRAVED AND GILT-DECORATED RED-LACQUERED WOOD SUTRA COVERS

YONGLE PERIOD (1403-1425)

The reverse of one cover has a long inscription in Tibetan and Chinese enclosed within a large lotus-petal cartouche.

Each 28 3/4 in. (73.1 cm.) long





Provenance

Acquired by the current owner in the early 1990s.



Post lot text

The present set of covers were made for the sutra Dasheng Fawang jing, one of the 108 volumes of the BKa-gyur, a sacred text representing the word of the Buddha. According to Dr Peter Lam in Layered Beauty, Hong Kong, 2010, p. 54, two sets of BKa-gyur were bestowed sequentially by the Emperor Yongle to two Buddhist abbots from Tibet in 1413 and 1416, now preserved at the Potala Palace and the Sera Monastery in Lhasa, respectively.
A similar set of covers, once in the same collection as the current pair is dated c. 1410, published by J.C.Y. Watt and B.B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, pp. 116 and 117. (Fig. 1) The authors note that these lacquered covers provide the earliest examples of Ming-style qiangjin work. A further set is illustrated by R.D. Jacobsen, Appreciating China, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2002, no. 48. For other similar covers sold at auctions, see a set from the Lee Family Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, Important Chinese Lacquer from the Lee Family Collection, Part II, 1 December 2009, lot 1821; an inscribed pair sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2260; a set from the Baoyizhai Collection, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 April 2014, lot 38; a single back cover sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 2816; and most recently a single cover sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2022, lot 3021.
Medium:Acrylic glass, Japanese lacquerware, Plastic
Historical era:Yongle period
Place of origin:China, Eastern Asia, Asia
Auction house category:All other types of objects
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
20.03.2023 10:00 – 17:00
21.03.2023 10:00 – 17:00
23.02.2023 10:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.