Box with Landscape Scenes and Auspicious Emblems

This box is a quintessential example of the intricate layered surfaces that characterize carved lacquer in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. On the lid a geometric background supports a stylized Chinese character for shou, or longevity, which is itself decorated with auspicious motifs such as bats (the Chinese word for which is a homonym for "good fortune"). The four raised black-lacquer panels on the side of the box are carved with scenes of deer and cranes-both symbolic of longevity-in landscapes. They are surrounded by lush clouds that contain the Eight Treasures: a conch shell, a lotus wheel, a parasol, an endless knot, a pair of golden fish, a banner, and a treasure vase. These auspicious symbols, derived from Buddhism, appear often in later Chinese art. Boxes of this shape were used to hold small treasures of various materials and are therefore frequently referred to as treasure boxes.