287 - AN IMPORTANT IMPERIAL GOLD CYLINDRICAL BETEL BOX, TRAY AND COVER

AN IMPORTANT IMPERIAL GOLD CYLINDRICAL BETEL BOX, TRAY AND COVER Vietnam, dated 1821 and re-engraved in 1839. Ø 12.5 cm. 568 g. The cylindrical box and lid are rendered in heavy, deeply chased repoussé with twelve imperial dragons and soaring phoenixes distributed evenly across the top of the cover, the side of the cover, and the main cylindrical body of the box amidst an intricate background of ruyi clouds and wave crests. The interior features a separate fitted tray. The base bears two long, stippled inscriptions indicating an initial manufacture in 1821 by order of the court, and a subsequent official re-engraving and verification audit in the spring of 1839 (20th year of the Minh Mang reign). Stamped with three small 月 (Month) control marks on the box, interior tray and the base. Provenance: Private Collection, Switzerland for over 50 years. This extraordinary box is a wonderful example of nineteenth-century luxury metalwork produced within the Huế Imperial Citadel Workshop under the Nguyễn Dynasty. Its highly complex decorative schema features a tightly structured, symmetric iconographic program orchestrating a visual display of twelve distinct mythological creatures. By balancing two pairs of imperial five-clawed dragons and soaring phoenixes evenly across the three primary planes—the flat circular top of the cover, the shallow vertical rim of the cover, and the deep cylindrical walls of the main box—the goldsmith achieved the auspicious court aesthetic known as the harmonious gathering of dragon and phoenix. In the cosmic vocabulary of the Nguyễn court, the pairing of the dragon (the symbol of the Emperor) with the phoenix (the symbol of the Empress) magnified across the number twelve represented the twelve months of the year under a perfectly regulated, peaceful cosmic rule. Cylindrical gold containers of this material purity and scale functioned within courtly protocol primarily multi-component imperial betel boxes (tráp/hộp đựng trầu), holding the requisite elements for ceremonial betel presentation. The base exhibits a remarkably rare numismatic palimpsest documenting two distinct generations of imperial treasury accounting, retaining the clear phantom outlines of an older text flattened down by a treasury smith. The primary, dominant inscription appears to read: 「明命貳拾年叁月吉日改刻 捌五歲金蓋皿格物共重拾肆两捌钱柒分」 ("Re-engraved on an auspicious day in the spring month of the 20th year of the Minh Mạng reign. Verified 85% pure gold alloy lidded vessel, total combined weight: 14 Tael, 8 Mace, and 7 Candareen."). This update captures a critical historical fiscal reform when Emperor Minh Mạng launched a sweeping audit of all precious metal assets within the Imperial Treasury. Because the combined weight of the vessel and its internal fitted elements had shifted minutely by a fraction of a gram over years of use, leaving the original 1821 signature intact would have constituted a serious administrative violation, requiring the updated inventory lines to be superimposed over the original text. The underlying, faded 1821 layer appears to read: 「公正[ ]八五 十四[ ]七[ ]七分 辛巳阮忝奉造」 ("Official Standard [ ] 85% gold alloy, 14 [ ] 7 [ ] 7 Candareen. Respectfully manufactured by imperial command by Nguyễn Thiểm in the Tân Tỵ year."). This ghost layer reveals that a master palace craftsman of the court was originally commissionedto forge this vessel from treasury's standard eighty-five percent pure gold alloy (historically designated as Bát ngũ tuế hoàng kim, or "8.5-age gold"). Scribes noted its exact original breakdown down to the final decimals. The standalone control marks stamped on both the interior tray, lid and the base served as a final counter-verification punch by secondary treasury inspectors. Direct historical and structural comparables are exceptionally scarce due to the extensive melting of Nguyễn court treasures during the late nineteenth century. A closely related imperial gold betel box (hộp đựng trầu) from the reign of Emperor Minh Mạng, dated to his 5th year (1824) and crafted by court goldsmith Lê Văn Trường, is preserved in the Vietnam National Museum of History in Hanoi; that example is of smaller personal proportions (66 g) and decorated exclusively with phoenixes among clouds, highlighting the present lot's far grander size, weight, and complete dragon-and-phoenix iconography. Compare, also, an inscribed gold box and cover from the Raphael Marty Collection of slightly smaller size (7.8 cm high, 303.2 g) first sold at the Vente Au Cercle Nautique de Cannes, 19-20 March 1926, lot 130, and was offered again at Christie’s New York, 21 November 2005, lot 79. Compare also the Imperial Minh Mạng Gold Dragon Bowl sold at Millon Paris in November 2022, which exhibits a similarly deeply chased solid gold dragon motif. Due to new EU import regulations, it may no longer