Box for Seal Paste

This small round covered box, called yinse he in Chinese, held the vermillion seal paste on the scholar's writing desk. During the latter half of the Kangxi reign (1662-1722), sets of petite porcelains covered in peach bloom glaze were produced at the Jingdezhen Imperial kilns. These sets, meant for the writing table, included small flower vases, brush washers, and boxes for seal paste. The peach bloom glaze on the exterior of this box is a mottled pink and red, with sprays of gray-green hugging the contours of the lid. Stains from the potent vermillion pigment remain in the white glaze of the interior.