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Box: C.720 & A-1991

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An image of Box
An image of Box
An image of Box
Current Location: Gallery 28 - Arts of Asia Gallery

Maker(s)

Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Octagonal box with domed cover. Hard-paste porcelain painted in underglaze blue. The box is stoutly potted, compressed and octagonal in section, with rounded shoulders and flat rims. The base has rounded sides resting on a low footrim with flat, recessed, glazed base. The domed cover is painted with a scene of a flock of birds darting beneath a fruiting tree with a pair of pheasants amongst shrubs and flowering peonies in the foreground. The eight sides of both the box and cover is painted with panels of birds and trees, and bands of lingzhi scrolls encircling each rim. The interiors have a plain white glaze.

Notes

History note: Purchased from Christie's, 31 October 1934, D.W. Freshfield Collection, for £4.0s.0d, part Lot 8; H.S. Reitlinger (d.1950); the Reitlinger Trust, Maidenhead, from which transferred in 1991.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by H.S. Reitlinger, 1950; transferred from the Reitlinger Trust, 1991.

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 31.6 cm
Height: 18.6 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1950) by Reitlinger, Henry Scipio

Dating

Ming
Jiajing (1521-1567)
16th Century
1522 CE - 1566 CE

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamel ( blue)
Body

Materials used in production

Glaze
Hard-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Glazing (coating)

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.720 & A-1991
Primary reference Number: 21260
Old object number: CHICER/309

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 22 April 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Box" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/21260 Accessed: 2025-12-06 10:27:25

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/21260 |title=Box |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-06 10:27:25|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Box</figcaption>
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