Shipwreck Sale: Beautiful Asian Carved Jade and Metal Box--NOTE PRICE LOWERED

I should point out that I know headlining everything as part of the 'Shipwreck' sale isn't terribly accurate, but I didn't want to distinguish every included item by calling it "Shipwreck, Dug or Found.' That would take up half of every headline. Quite obviously a large portion of the items included are shipwreck discoveries, but the rest of the items fall into that 'dug' category, where many were found from Europe to Civil War battlefields. And the 'found' category is pretty all-encompassing. This piece falls into the latter category.

I was very fortunate as I searched shipwreck pieces ranging from vessels lost at sea in the Americas and throughout Asian waters that I found some special non-shipwreck Asian pieces such as this box.

This box could be used for a variety of things. It's a bit over 4 inches long, 3 inches wide and not quite 1 1/4 inches deep. For an early piece, likely 19th century, it is very well made. All of the corners and side frames appear to be brass. The entire box is framed on every edge with the metal; the hinges and the latch are all in exceptionally excellent condition.

The four sides are jade panels and the top is glass over an intricately carved jade design. The bottom is translucent glass. I've also include a closeup of the brass design. It has the scroll work on all of the brass surfaces. Every aspect of its construction is outstanding. It wasn't made as an inexpensive souvenir-type item; all of the workmanship and materials are very high grade. I am quite impressed with the metal work; compared to an awful lot of 19th century items I'v seen (and sold!) over the years, this is better made than most others I've encountered.

The fitting was very well done as there is no rattle from the glass or the jade as it was all cut to fit precisely and even the corner feet are imple but very sturdy. The carved jade design on the lid panel includes two large long tailed birds and flowers; like most such Japanese or CHinese carving it has subtle intricasies in the design.

I don't mean to sound overly effusive but I couldn't pass up this piece when looking for items to include in the sale. I looked at hundreds of jade pieces and with the exception of intricate statues that cost $1,000-$2,500, this was the nicest piece I was able to obtain.