Covered Box with Seated Sage

This small white porcelain covered box is decorated with underglaze cobalt blue painting and colored overglaze enamels of green, light green, red, yellow, mustard and brown. At the center is a seated sage resting his chin upon his hands, which are crossed over one another on a raised left knee. The serene and smiling figure resides in the shade of bamboo and is surrounded by a border of bright technicolor flower blossoms. The round medallion in which the sage is seated is centered on the round and slightly domed top of the box.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

William T. or Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.