BAMBOO-VENEER 'LONGEVITY' BOX WITH COVER QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY 清 竹黃福壽綿綿雙緣蓋盒 sensitively carved in the form of two conjoined circles forming '∞', the flat top of the cover with two interlocking roundels as border, one with its central medallion enclosing a shou character further with two outstretched bats amidst lingzhi-shaped clouds, the other with two lotus blossoms borne on meandering stems, a band of petal lappets decorating the bevelled shoulders, sides of the box and cover similarly decorated with bats in flight and lotus scrolls, another bevelled border above the short foot with mirrored repetition of decoration on the shoulders (12.5cm wide) Qty: (1) Provenance: Private French collection Note: Bamboo-veneer or in Chinese, zhuhuang (literally means yellow bamboo), uses the inner wall of the bamboo stem, which is in light yellow colour, as opposed to the outer green section of the bamboo, zhuqing (literally means green bamboo), in crafting works of art. After the veneer is treated and pressed flat, it then gets applied over a wooden core, and is carved in shallow relief. As the colour of the bamboo skin is lighter than wood, the design is left in reserve contrasting the darker background, resulting in an elegant and attractive finish. Bamboo-veneer boxes of this form were held in high esteem and produced for the imperial court. For another conjoined circular box of identical size and from the Qing Court collection, preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, with an additional tier and carved with clouds, illustrated in Small Refined Articles of the Study. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Shanghai, 2011, pl. 300. Compare also to another box and cover in the Palace Museum, Beijing, but of rhombus form, illustrated in Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings: The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 72. All three boxes are characterised by similar intricate low-relief carving, characteristic of the finest quality output from the Palace Workshops. A further comparable example of similar form and decoration, formerly in the Robert H. Blumenfield Collection of Chinese Bamboo Carvings, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 6 April 2015, lot 3007.