Precious Spring Longevity Box
Not on view
The Qianlong emperor commissioned at least eighteen versions of this box. He especially valued the design on the top: a large representation of the character for spring (chun, an allusion to long life), and a small image of Shoulao, the god of longevity. The character and the overflowing bowl below it are set against a background of radiating rainbows. The bowl of treasures motif first appeared in carved lacquer in the sixteenth century; it was incorporated into this more complicated program of imagery during the reign of Qianlong.
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