A fine blue and white soft-paste vermilion paste box decorated on the exterior with the '100 boys' motif in dan miao qing hua technique (penciled blue & white). The cover painted with a central medallion of a boy riding a kylin in the clouds, the sloping sides with boys in numerous varied activities, the lower section similarly decorated. On the base written in horizontal format an apocryphal six character mark in kaishu script of the 成化帝 Chenghua Emperor.
A slightly larger (16 cm) similar paste box is illustrated in Transitional Wares and Their Forerunners, An exhibition presented by The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Urban Council, Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 29 January to 29 March 1981, Pg 155, Pl 110.
清代 Qing Dynasty, 康熙 Kangxi Period (1662-1722)
Diameter: 4 3/8" (11.1 cm)
Provenance: Vermeer & Griggs Collection No. 383
Condition: Excellent, slight wear on the top of the cover.
Please refer to item #BW-268-383 when inquiring.