Curio Boxes: Toy Chests of the Qing Emperor

Bamboo-veneered curio box with lotuses Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Height: 24.5 cm, diameter: 18.5 cm

One thing to be mentioned is the top tray is specially made with many grooves according to the shape of every sheet of jade ware. This allows the jade wares to be set in the tray perfectly so the threat of shaking is greatly reduced.

Removing the tray, there are eight or nine different sized bays. In the biggest bay, there is a little box that can be taken off as a smaller curio box. Porcelain bowls, jade vases, calligraphy and paintings are put in the other bays, together with a special lacquer box decorated with gold and silver from Japan. Apart from these, there is also a western style box set with jewels and horologe, and a finger ring decorated with a small horologe.

There is another curio box held at the National Palace Museum named Bamboo-veneered curio box with lotuses.

Bamboo-veneered curio box with lotuses

The curio box houses a total of 27 individual curios. In addition to ancient and Qing Dynasty jades, there are also hand scroll paintings and albums by artists who worked for the court of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795). Each triangular drawer in the lower section of the quadrants contains a hand scroll, but only three remain today: a landscape by Fang Zung and two paintings of flowers -- one by Yang Dazhang and the other by Li Bingde -- each measuring only seven cm in length. One of these triangular drawers also contains an album of figure painting by artist Jin Yanbiao, measuring roughly three cm along each side. These paintings are the smallest examples in the collection at the National Palace Museum.

Bamboo-veneered curio box with lotuses