A CINNABAR LACQUER SMALL CYLINDRICAL BOX AND COVER15th century The cylindrical box carved to the top with two scholars beneath a maple tree below clouds and near rockwork and lightly suggested bamboo which borders the scene, a small thatched hut on a promontory below a moon behind them, the slightly rounded vertical sides of the box and cover each carved with a single wide band of key-pattern, the red lacquer continuing over the narrow rounded foot ring, the base and interiors black lacquered. 3 3/8in (8.6cm) diameter, silk bag, Japanese wood box 十五世紀 剔紅人物圖圓蓋盒 For a slightly smaller circular box and cover with identical decoration to the sides and a landscape scene with figures gazing at the moon, see Christie's, Hong Kong, 26-27 September 1989, lot 1570. It bears a Xuande mark. Another tiered box, with a similar scene is illustrated in Gugong bowuyuan Cang Diauxi (Carved Lacquer in the Collection of the Palace Museum) , Beijing, 1985, no. 63.