A rare Chinese export mother-of-pearl and reverse painted gl...

Hammer

£2,600

A rare Chinese export mother-of-pearl and reverse painted glass mounted casket, late 18th century, the cover and front panel carved and pierced with peonies with birds amongst peonies flowers and foliage in mother-of-pearl, inset with reverse painted glass portraits of Chinese court figures, the sides inset with reverse painted glass panels of birds and peonies, the back panel inset with a mirrored glass panel, enclosing a later velvet lined interior, on four white metal hairy lion paw feet, 27.5cm wide at feet, 15.5cm high, some damage

More Information

The portrait to the cover has been cracked in several places, and there are losses to some of the fretted mother-of-pearl sections to the left of the portrait, some splits and re-gluing to the border of the cover. The front carcass wood beneath has probably moved a little bit and there are some splits losses and reglued areas to the mother of pearl decoration, the left hand side is in reasonable condition, the right-hand side panel has a crack to the reverse painted glass inset and the back panel has some possible re-glueing to some of the mother of pearl. The interior is later lined obscuring the construction of the inside, the hinges are possibly replacement. The bottom panel now later covered in baize, the feet screwed on on top of the baize with later screws, but the feet are of the period.