A rare ivory three-tier stacking box or ‘rantang’

North Vietnam/Tonkin, 2nd half 17th century

The box consists of three compartments that screw onto each other, decorated on top with fire-spitting dragons and on the sides with birds and hares among flowers and vines.

H. 10 x Diam. 10 cm

The present box, together with some other pieces, amongst them an ivory pestle and mortar, dated 1650-1675 in the Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen (Ebc42a and b, inventoried in 1674) and a box in the Victoria&Albert Museum (2564-1856) from the second half of the 17th century, belong to a very small group of carved ivory objects quite different from other 17th-century Chinese ivory objects. Screw-on compartments and lids are not common in Chinese objects and probably are an early European influence. Nevertheless, the dragons carved on the lids and around the mortar place these objects well within the Chinese repertoire, but made in Vietnam/Tonkin for export markets.