A CHINESE CINNABAR LACQUER `LYCHEE` CIRCULAR SEAL PASTE BOX AND COVER Ming Dynasty, 16th Century The body and cover with straight sides decorated with foliate branches laden with lychees carved with fylfot, diaper and scaly patterns, the interior in black lacquer, 7.5cm diameter (2) 明十六世紀 剔紅荔枝紋蓋盒 A ‘lychee’ box and cover, dated to the 16 th century is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 2015.500.1.46a, b. Another example is housed in the collection at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, acc. no. 339.1989. Compare a similar box and cover, dated to the 16 th century, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 11 th June 2021, lot 3140, and another in the same rooms, The Imperial Sale / Important Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 1 st June 2016, lot 3414. Another late-Ming dynasty example was offered at Bonham’s New Bond Street, Fine Chinese Art, 5 th November 2020, lot 124. A comparable box and cover was also offered at Sotheby’s London, St George Street Sale: Asian Art, 17 th May 2019, lot 231. A similar box and cover, dated to the late Ming dynasty, is illustrated in ‘The Creation of Natural Immensity and Grandeur: The Yang Ming Shan Fang Collection of Lacquer from Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties’, Beijing, 2020, pp.104-105, no.29. Another box is illustrated in `In a Myriad of Forms: The Ancient Chinese Lacquers`, Shanghai, 2018, p.139, no.087.