Chinese Lidded Rectangular Soap Box With Red Foo Lion Design C 1900

Details

Description

A late 19th C or early 20th C oval-shaped Chinese lidded soap box featuring a distinctive hand-painted iron-red Buddhist lion … Read more A late 19th C or early 20th C oval-shaped Chinese lidded soap box featuring a distinctive hand-painted iron-red Buddhist lion or "Foo dog" motif accompanied by calligraphy on the lid and both ends of the base. The lions all have finely drawn faces with a bit comical expressions.

The jar and lid both have a white glazed background with high-contrast red designs. The lid is topped by a final loop. Inside has round nibs to drain water from a bar of soap.

The bottom of the lip on the lid, the inside of the mouth on the body and bottoms of the slab feet are all unglazed. The base is glazed. There is a tiny remnant of a wax export seal on the bottom, and a stamped export sticker on the top of the lid.

Provenance: From the estate of Dr. Andres Onate, former Dead of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. Dr. Onate served in China for the US State Department in the early 1980s and again in the early 1990s. This item was purchased in Beijing c 1982.

MEASUREMENTS
4 ½ in (11.4 cm) long x 3 ½ in (8.9 cm) wide x 2 ½ in (6.4 cm) tall. Weighs 7.6 oz.

CONDITION
Other than a short hairline extending from the mouth on one end, the soap dish has no damage. The glazes are still bright. There are customary kiln flaws, such as ripples on the base, a few pits and black spots. The lid is rather dirty but I did not was it so not to risk damaging the seal and stamp. See less