My Chinese red Cinnabar lacquer box

tamrock · Nov 18, 2018

I picked this up on the road last week for $10. I've seen a lot of lacquer boxes in antique shops and TS'rs, and most of those I see look to be made of a more modern synthetic plastic material, but this one looked special. It is carved wood with a heavy application of lacquer over it and a carved stone in the center of the lid. Looking on eBay I saw many at different sold price ranges for similar boxes. Then I saw this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chinese-Ca...bbc51ba:g:aNQAAOSwrwhbtV0b#vi__app-cvip-panel ... The box looks identical but the carved Stone medallion is much more detailed and beautiful than the one on mine. There is a layer of dirt and dust within the low spots of the relief on mine and smoke residue on the stone so, I do believe it's rather old? Mine measures 4"x 2.5"x 1.5" I'm wondering if I found something unique ?

Professor of Engineering · Nov 18, 2018

Nice find!

JT · Nov 20, 2018

Nice looking little box.

Looking on EBay for Chinese Cinnabar boxes, I didn’t see any with the stone insert like yours. That may, or may not make it special.

Prices on Ebay range from $9.99 to $1800, so without getting it checked by someone knowledgeable there’s no way of knowing for sure if you have a true vintage piece or a recently manufactured replica. Any markings, signature, etc that you can see?

Shame it appears to have that broken lip, that’ll kill the value if it is something special. If it is valuable maybe it’s restorable?

tamrock · Nov 20, 2018

My feelings are it's a replica made in the first quarter of the 20 century. Indeed that lip is chipped, but still hidden from veiw with the top on. It is very detailed and completely carved of wood with a heavy lacquer paint, so it isn't something made quickly. I'm not thinking it's worth a bundle, but if I can get triple on what I paid I'll be happy. I'll probably list it at an auction starting price of $24.95 and see what happens. It does have the word China scratched in on the bottom.

GopherDaGold · Nov 20, 2018

https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-CHINES...954944?hash=item4d31ead380:g:m0gAAOxy3NBSoW9~

Is this your box?

tamrock · Nov 20, 2018

GopherDaGold said:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-CHINES...954944?hash=item4d31ead380:g:m0gAAOxy3NBSoW9~

Is this your box?

That's one I looked at and yes it is very similar. How nice that some sellers put high prices on the same items I'm planning to list. $24.95 is where I'm gonna start and if that's all or not

what it brings, that'll just have to be how the cookie crumbles. I do think I won't be listing it until after Christmas though. I don't do a lot of selling of the things I find, but I'm going to start here this weekend, has my rear engine seal in my truck is leaking and that means giving up a few things to get that off my plate.

huntsman53 · Nov 20, 2018

Well hold on there Jethro! The one you linked to in the opening post lead me to this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chinese-Ca...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137 on eBay that sold for a whopping $4,494.00 buckeroos. So, you might want to reconsider how you list it and at what opening price. The one at the link looks almost very similar to your's and the other one linked but doesn't have the carved ring border around the stone and is complete with the dust in the low spots of the carvings. I think that you should spiffy up the stone in the center of the box but leave the rest as is and go for Gold. I ain't saying that your's will fetch that price but it one can hope that it reaches 4 digits (i.e. before the decimal point).

tamrock · Nov 20, 2018

huntsman53 said:
Well hold on there Jethro! The one you linked to in the opening post lead me to this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chinese-Ca...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137 on eBay that sold for a whopping $4,494.00 buckeroos. So, you might want to reconsider how you list it and at what opening price. The one at the link looks almost very similar to your's and the other one linked but doesn't have the carved ring border around the stone and is complete with the dust in the low spots of the carvings. I think that you should spiffy up the stone in the center of the box but leave the rest as is and go for Gold. I ain't saying that your's will fetch that price but it one can hope that it reaches 4 digits (i.e. before the decimal point).

Well I could only hope it's something valuable, but it's really hard to tell with all the price ranges I'm seeing. The stone in mine isn't all that beautifully done and a bit crude compared to the really expensive one and that leads me to believe this one I have is a rendition of one made in a much earlier period, but still believe mine is maybe close to being 80 to maybe 100 years old?

Kray Gelder · Nov 20, 2018

tamrock said:
My feelings are it's a replica made in the first quarter of the 20 century. Indeed that lip is chipped, but still hidden from veiw with the top on. It is very detailed and completely carved of wood with a heavy lacquer paint, so it isn't something made quickly. I'm not thinking it's worth a bundle, but if I can get triple on what I paid I'll be happy. I'll probably list it at an auction starting price of $24.95 and see what happens. It does have the word China scratched in on the bottom.

I have to agree with you. A tourist trade piece, and likely just red paint, not actual cinnabar pigmented lacquer. It's VERY red, cinnabar is usually a much richer reddish brown. IMHO. Your price seems reasonable.

tamrock · Nov 20, 2018

Kray Gelder said:
I have to agree with you. A tourist trade piece, and likely just red paint, not actual cinnabar pigmented lacquer. It's VERY red, cinnabar is usually a much richer reddish brown. IMHO. Your price seems reasonable.

Thanks, KG. You prompt me to seek a bit deeper. And indeed I do see what your saying about ready Cinnabar pigments. https://www.realorrepro.com/article/Cinnabar