Pair of Colorful Chinese Porcelain Dishes. Guangxu Period

Antique and appealing Chinese box with lid, made of lacquered and hand-decorated wood in 1870. This is an attractive piece full of historical and aesthetical interest that was lacquered with the thousand-year old technique that has been used in China and Japan since time immemorial. Just on the deep black-lacquered finish, the surface is almost completely covered by hand-made motives in different shades of gold. There are also small strokes of bright red paint. All the images depict complicated sceneries full of details and decorative fringes, plants, trees, buildings and traditionally dressed Chinese people, which are usually known as chinoiseries. This decoration appears only in the outside of the box; the inside shows off the lovely black lacquered in excellent condition. The inside of the lid is decorated with two symmetrical golden drawings depicting some kind of schematic rock or mountains on which a series of trees dance in the wind.The box is very well preserved though one of its four legs is missing. To equilibrate it, years ago one of the three remaining legs was put in the middle of a long side. Nevertheless this can be easily repaired by a good professional restorer. The mentioned legs are carved in the shape of winged mythological animals, maybe bats or dragons. The expertise of the artist who decorated this piece is highly remarkable: the paintings are full of quite fine details, expressive faces, leafy gardens, fluid clothes and drawings of all kind of things full of charm and freedom.The lid is connected to the box by two hinges, and if we open it we can see a curious detail: inside the lid, just between the mentioned symmetrical golden trees there is a label sticked to the lacquered with the following inscription: M. MEERT Confiseur Chocolatieur Glacier Fournissier de SM Le Roi des Belges Lileé. This detail indicates that the box was probably purchased in times by the owner of the Belgium store, who would use it to show off and protect his candies and cakes. This is just one more feature of this beautiful oriental antique, which can be the perfect choice to complete a dressing table or to decorate any stylish living room.Measurements: Width: 280 mm. Height: 160 mm.