A PAIR OF CARVED CINNABAR LACQUER AND METAL 'LANDSCAPE' DISHESQianlong seal marks, 19th century The dishes of canted square shape, similarly carved in mirror images with designs of a lakeside scene, each featuring a group of sages flanked by attendants walking along a fenced terrace, gazing at the mountainous scenery before them, defined by elegant pavilions nestled amidst pine trees and jagged mountains, all on a diaper ground also decorating the reverse interspersed with auspicious fruits and flowers, set with apocryphal seal marks. Each 20cm (8in) square. (2). 十九世紀 金屬胎剔紅亭台人物圖盤一對 「大清乾隆年製」篆書款 Notable for their delicate carving, the present pair of dishes was probably based on a prototype which was popular during the Ming period. See, for example, a carved cinnabar lacquer 'scholars' dish, Ming dynasty, similarly shaped with canted corners and decorated with sages and attendant in a garden setting, 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, no.36. pare with a pair of related lacquered brass square dishes, dated as Qianlong mark and period, similarly marked and shaped with canted corners and decorated with designs of figures in gardens, the reverse with auspicious symbols on an intricate diaper ground, in the BASF Lacquer Museum, Munster, illustrated by D.Clifford, Chinese Carved Lacquer , London, 1992, p.129, pl.102.