Shanxi, circa 1880This box comes from Shanxi in central China, and it may well have been given to a little boy on his birthday by his grandparents, who would then give further gifts each year to put inside the box. The boy in the paintings sits next to a lotus flower, an auspicious symbol in Buddhism, and holds a fish, a symbol for prosperity. The main painting is framed by a common scrolling pattern seen on many cabinets and trunks from Shanxi. The box has a hinged lid (probably not original), and the front clasp is certainly a replacement. The original clasp would have been much larger and the area where this would have been fitted has been refilled, clearly visible behind the new clasp.
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