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

AN IMPORTANT IMPERIAL GOLD CYLINDRICAL BETEL BOX, TRAY, AND LID 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, featuring twelve imperial dragons and soaring phoenixes distributed evenly across the top of the lid, the sides of the lid, and the main cylindrical body of the box, set against an intricate background of ruyi clouds and wave crests. The interior features a separate, fitted tray. The base bears two long, stippled inscriptions indicating that it was originally manufactured in 1821 by order of the court, followed by an official re-engraving and verification audit in the spring of 1839 (the 20th year of the Minh Mang reign). Stamped with three small 月 (Month) control marks on the box, the 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 scheme features a tightly structured, symmetrical iconographic program that orchestrates 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 lid, the shallow vertical rim of the lid, and the deep cylindrical walls of the main box—the goldsmith achieved the auspicious court aesthetic known as the harmonious gathering of the dragon and the 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 through the number twelve, represented the twelve months of the year under a perfectly regulated, peaceful cosmic order. Cylindrical gold containers of this material purity and scale served, within court protocol, primarily as multi-compartment imperial betel boxes (tráp/hộp đựng trầu), holding the necessary elements for ceremonial betel presentation. The base features a remarkably rare numismatic palimpsest documenting two distinct generations of imperial treasury accounting, retaining the clear ghostly outlines of an older text that had been flattened by a treasury smith. The primary, dominant inscription appears to read: “Re-engraved on an auspicious day in the third month of the 20th year of the Minh Mạng reign. Verified 85% pure gold alloy lidded vessel, total combined weight: 14 taels, 8 mace, and 7 candareen.”). This update reflects 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 fittings 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 entries 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 year of the Metal Snake."). This ghost layer reveals that a master palace craftsman of the court was originally commissioned to forge this vessel from the treasury’s standard eighty-five percent pure gold alloy (historically designated as Bát ngũ tuế hoàng kim, or “8.5-age gold”). Scribes recorded its exact original composition down to the final decimals. The standalone control marks stamped on the interior tray, lid, and base served as a final verification stamp by secondary treasury inspectors. Direct historical and structural comparables are exceptionally rare 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 amid clouds, highlighting the present lot’s far grander size, weight, and complete dragon-and-phoenix iconography. Compare, also, an inscribed gold box and lid from the Raphael Marty Collection, which is slightly smaller (7.8 cm high, 303.2 g) and was first sold at the Vente Au Cercle Nautique de Cannes, March 19–20, 1926, lot 130, and was offered again at Christie’s New York on November 21, 2005, lot 79. Compare also the Imperial Minh Mạng Gold Dragon Bowl sold at Millon Paris in November 2022, which features a similarly deeply chased solid-gold dragon motif. Due to new EU import regulations, it may no longer