A very rare qiangjin-decorated 'Bajixiang' sutra box and coverYongle
The rectangular box lacquered in vibrant red and decorated with gold-filled incised lines depicting scrolling lotus with the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' each supported by an blossoming lotus flower, the cover hinged and with a gilt-bronze clasp at the front chased with lotus motifs, the sides of the cover with swirling clouds, the trapezoidal upper section with meandering foliate scrolls, the interior with woven silk lining. 40cm (15 3/4in) long.注脚明永樂 朱漆戧金八吉祥經盒

Provenance:
Christopher Bruckner Asian Art Gallery, London, prior to 2005

來源：
2005年前，倫敦Christopher Bruckner亞洲藝術廊

Published and Illustrated:
Céline and Christopher Bruckner, Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces, vol.II, London, 2005, no.3

出版及著錄：
Céline 及 Christopher Bruckner， 《Chinese Imperial Patronage: Treasures from Temples and Palaces》，卷二，倫敦，2005年，編號3

Compare with a box, probably made in the same workshop, but with a dragon design, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by J.Watt and L.D.Patry, Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth Century China, New York, 2005, no.21. See also a related large square lacquer box decorated in the same technique with dragon roundels, dated 1389, illustrated by J.M.Addis, Chinese Ceramics from Datable Tombs, London, 1978, pl.32d.

The present lot would have been made to hold a Buddhist sutra. Zhu Di (1360-1424), who ruled as the Yongle emperor, was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism and initiated into its practices around 1380, when he was enfeoffed in Beijing. Seeing himself as a universal ruler to rival former Mongol claims to power across the Eurasian continent, he sponsored and tolerated numerous religions including Tibetan Buddhism, which still had strong ties to the Mongol military elite. Following renewed contacts with religious and secular leaders in Tibet, the demand for works and ritual objects depicting Buddhist imagery increased at the beginning of the 15th century. In 1410, the Yongle emperor ordered the production of the Tibetan canon, or Kanjur, in Beijing; see Jiacuo, et al., 'Lasa Xianzang de liangbu Yongle Ganzhuer', Wenwu, 1985, pp.85-88.

盒木胎，通體髹朱漆，以戧金工藝滿飾連枝八吉祥紋，蓋緣飾如意雲紋及連枝紋，銅鎏金扣，上鏨蓮紋。

此盒專門用於收納經卷。永樂皇帝朱棣大概在1380年開始信奉藏傳佛教，並將其引入中原，彼時燕王朱棣尚潛邸北京。朱棣為了表示自己是統御四方的天朝皇帝，功蓋海內，意圖恢復元朝當初橫跨歐亞大陸的帝國版圖，特而允許多元的宗教信仰，並提供贊助。其中包括支持藏傳佛教，即便塞外蒙古貴族仍然與之過從甚密。朱棣積極籠絡西藏宗教領袖和學者，由此十五世紀以降佛教題材的裝飾品急遽增加。1410年，朱棣下令在北京刊印《大藏經》一零八卷，此件經盒或即是當時用來存放《大藏經》，相關討論參見嘉措等撰，《拉薩現藏的兩部永樂版甘珠爾》，《文物》，1985年，頁85至88。

參考一件大都會博物館藏朱漆戧金經盒，整體風格如出一轍，惟戧龍紋，見屈志仁及L.D.Patry著，《Defining Yongle: Imperial Art in Early Fifteenth Century China》，紐約，2005年，編號21；另可比較一件較大之戧金漆盒，飾團龍紋，年款對應1389年，見J.M.Addis著，《Chinese Ceramics from Datable Tombs》，1978年，圖版32d。