605. Silver Gilt Enamel Opium Box, China

Enamelled & Silver Gilt Opium Box with Lion Cover

This beautifully rendered octagonal opium box is decorated on each of the four main faces with raised foliage and tree shrews against backgrounds of blue-green enamel. The cover is surmounted by a large Buddhistic lion with an elaborately worked mane and tail, moveable eyes, and a freely rotating open-cut ball. A tongue (slightly detached) is also present in the lion’s mouth.

The cover fits over a base which is inserted into the cover. The bottom of the base is stamped in Chinese

wen bao, literally ‘literature treasure’ perhaps suggesting that the item was intended for use on a scholar’s desk. The sides of the top cover of the box fit completely and tightly over the raised sides of the base. This is a common feature of opium storage boxes – in hot weather, the opium gum tended to ooze out from under lids not tightly secured.