37 | Small tixi lacquer box and cover Southern Song dynasty, 1127 – 1279 Diameter: 5.5 cm | 2 3/16 in Click image for full-size version Deeply carved to reveal alternating red and dark brown layers, this lacquer box would have been used to store cosmetics. Its domed cover rises to a peak – forming the centre of a stylized petal, above four pommel scrolls; a plain double band divides the box at its centre. The inward curving bottom half is carved with a repeating double scroll design that extends down to the base, with a recessed foot. The interior is lacquered orange red, and the exterior’s top layer is lacquered dark brown. Similar examples: The Color and Forms of Song and Yuan China, Featuring Lacquerwares, Ceramics and Metalwares, Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2004 – nos. 46, 47, 48 & 49. Provenance: Galerie Eymery, Paris, 15th April 1943.