Large seal box with cover

Small- or middle-sized boxes were mostly used for storing ink paste. On this piece, the strongly painted polychromes on a blue ground relate to a Ming tradition of decoration. The motif was penciled in black and colored in shades of green, red, and lavender. The ground was then filled in with blue. The four kinds of flowers—peony, plum, lotus, and camellia in foliage—cover the surface of the lid and the box. The heavily potted body with a glazed interior and base bears the typical rounded footring edge and a stylized imperial mark in three rows.