Box (underside and top of cover)

When longquan potters began to make boxes in the Tang dynasty, they looked to rounded and rather tall yue forms in which the lid and the box both have a domed surface and bottom. Early boxes were mostly plain, fashioned without decoration. During the Song dynasty, the shape of the covered boxes became flattened, and increasingly advanced incising techniques were used to decorate the boxes as well (Zhejiang Light Industry Bureau 1989: 81, fig. 3). A flower blossom enclosed by a circle on the top of the box was a common design. Since the thirteenth century, raised and concave molded ornaments were more often seen. This flat-based box features a cover bearing a raised floral spray.