AN IMPERIAL POLYCHROME LACQUER CARVED 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' DISH Wanli mark cyclically dated Yiwei year, corresponding to 1595, and of the period (2)AN IMPERIAL POLYCHROME LACQUER CARVED 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' DISHWanli mark cyclically dated Yiwei year, corresponding to 1595, and of the period The shallow dish superbly carved on the interior through the cinnabar red top layer to the yellow and black layers with a large central medallion depicting a pair of powerful dragon and phoenix, one ascending, one descending amidst clouds on either side of a flaming pearl, the dragon's scales finely detailed contouring their bodies, depicted above turbulent waves breaking against jagged rocks emerging from the sea, all against undulating sea diaper and geometric sky diaper, contained within a border surrounded by foliage floral sprays on the cavetto, the exterior decorated with continuous, dense flowering lotus meander, the base is lacquered black, incised with the eight-character mark enhanced with tianjin, box. 20.9cm (8 1/4in) diam. (2).明萬曆 剔彩龍鳳紋盤「大明萬曆乙未年製」八字楷書刻款 Provenance:A Japanese private collection來源:日本私人舊藏The present dish is remarkable for its deep carving in the powerful style characteristic of the Ming dynasty. Boldly rendered through the deep layers of polychrome lacquer, the tray belongs to a group of lacquer wares carved with the 'dragon and phoenix' motif that gained popularity since the Jiajing reign; see a yellow and red lacquer dish of the same size in the National Palace Museum collection incised with a Jiajing eight-character mark cyclically dated Renwu year, corresponding to 1522, illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors: Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p.102, no.91. The design prototype continued into the Wanli reign, compare to two dishes of red and yellow lacquer in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Beijing, 2006, pp.205 and 211, the latter incised with the same mark as the present lot. The treatment of the continuous foliage floral sprays on the cavetto of the present dish bears similarity with a Wanli red lacquer dish with the same mark in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors: Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p.96, no.96.For a related discussion on lacquer wares with Wanli reign marks, see Zhang Rong in Mingdai Yuyongjian zao qiqi de kuanshi ji weikuan bianshi [The marks on lacquer wares made by the Directorate for Imperial Accoutrements], included in Gogong bowuyuan shinian lunwen xuan 1995-2004 [Selected essays of the Palace Museum 1995-2004], Beijing, 2005, pp.883-884. It is however extremely rare to find a polychrome lacquer dish with the present 'dragon and phoenix' design and inscribed with ganzhi year. It appears that no other known example exists, see a Wanli style polychrome lacquer 'dragon and phoenix' dish in the British Museum collection, unmarked, acc.no.:1974,0226.34. See also a comparable example but of yellow lacquer sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3011.盤圓唇，矮墻，圓鼓腹，盤底上收成圈足，漆色分三層，由上而下為朱、綠、黃三色，朱漆面盤心剔刻升龍降鳳戲珠於海水江崖之上，穿插以如意雲頭紋，綠彩剔刻成細水波紋，在下一層黃彩剔成細密窗棱紋錦地，盤內墻剔刻紅彩黃地連枝花卉紋，計有牡丹、芙蕖、山茶、菊花四對，外墻剔刻紅彩黃地連枝蓮紋一周，底部髹黑漆，頸部靠圈足處鏨刻填金「大明萬曆乙未年製」八字楷書款。山海龍鳳紋剔刻漆盤又有有剔紅、剔黃者，尺寸亦在21cm左右，同一形制之器最早見於嘉靖，如台北國立故宮博物院藏一件「大明嘉靖壬午年製」款剔黃山海龍鳳花卉紋圓盤，尺寸同本件一樣為21cm口徑，惟雲紋之間再加以連枝花尾，其餘部分則與本件一脈相承，見《和光剔彩·故宮藏漆》，台北，2008年，頁102，編號91。萬曆年間繼續製作，存世者可參考北京故宮藏一件萬曆剔紅龍鳳戲珠圓盤以及一件剔黃龍鳳紋圓盤，後者同樣刻有「大明萬曆乙未年製」款，見《故宮博物院藏文物大系·元明漆器》，北京，2006年，頁205及211， 圖版162及168。此三例內壁邊墻紋飾皆是開光花卉，本件則是一體連枝花卉，其做法與台北故宮藏一件萬曆乙未年製剔紅龍紋圓盤一致，見《和光》，頁96，編號96。萬曆漆器所見年號加干支紀年之八字款一般位於器底內緣正上方，據學者統計萬曆年款共有十七種干支紀年，而「壬辰」「乙未」存世最多，可知宮中曾在此兩年大批訂製，相關討論見張榮，《明代御用監造漆器的款識及偽款辯識》，載於《故宮博物院十年論文選 1995-2004》，北京，2005年，頁883及884。至於帶萬曆乙未年款之剔彩海水山崖龍鳳紋圓盤目前僅見本品，大英博物藏另一件萬曆風格剔彩龍鳳圓盤，剔彩處理與本件稍有不同，惟無年款，館藏編號1974,0226.34。香港佳士得2017年5月31日售出一件剔黃雙龍戲珠紋圓盤，同本件風格類似，可資參考，拍品編號3011。