Covered box with hibiscus and grapevines

This box exemplifies the highest quality cloisonné produced by the imperial Ming workshop. In addition to the stylized lotus scrolls commonly seen on earlier works, it features a naturalistic depiction of flowers and fruit. To create the subtle color variations on the leaves, artists used a sophisticated process of mixing yellow, green, and red enamels. These representations date this piece to the mid-fifteenth century, most likely the legendary Jingtai era (1450–57)—a golden age of cloisonné enamel production in China.