Antique Chinese Porcelain Paste Box With Red Foo Dog Republic Period

Details

Description

A Chinese porcelain seal or paste box that features a playful Foo Dog (also known as a Guardian Lion or … Read more A Chinese porcelain seal or paste box that features a playful Foo Dog (also known as a Guardian Lion or Shi), a traditional symbol of protection, power, and prosperity in Chinese culture on the lid.

Small paste boxes like this were traditionally used as ink holders for writing brushes or ink for stamps or seals. The box appears to have been used for its intended purpose and has remnants of paste visible in the bottom section.

The base is glazed with a cut foot rim and retains a complete wax customs seal. Both the interior of the lid and the base are glazed, with the exception of the rims, which remain unglazed in keeping with traditional production methods. It almost certainly dates from the Republic period (1912–1949)

Provenance: From the estate of Dr. Andres Onate, former Dean 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
3 in (7.6 cm) diameter x 2 1/8 in (5.4 cm) tall. Weighs 4.4 oz.

CONDITION
The box shows light wear to the designs. It has remnants of paste visible in the bottom section. The foot has sand from the kiln.

With its intact customs wax seal and evocative remnants of historic red paste, this charming Republic-period box stands as a tangible, beautifully preserved link to the scholarly traditions of early 20th-century China. See less