Description

A Southern Chinese powder flask, made of wood, lacquered cinnabar red. This larger type of flask would be used to refill the main charge of a matchlock musket. A separate, smaller flask would hold the priming powder.

Its main decorative panel shows plum branches with two birds in it, finely carved with undercurting. Two lion sit on top, and serve as loops for the suspension. The stop is in the form of a gourd.

Dating/attribution 

This style of carving is attributable to artisans working in Southern China, in a style that was also popular among the Straights Chinese settlers in Southeast Asia. Southern China was quite early in the adoption of modern firearms through maritime smuggling and trade networks. This expensive flask must have been made before the upper class had such access, probably around the early to mid-19th century. 

Condition

Flaking of the lacquer, especially on the bottom but also some on the top and a small section of the rear. The back plate is painted over in later times. Luckily the main decorative side is in rather good condition with only wear to the gold finish.

Markings

The rear plate is inscribed with several characters. They are hard to decipher due to a later applied thick layer of lacquer, but I think I can read something like: 

白程杜林記
Bái chéngdùlín jì

"The Story of White Jade Dulin"

Dulin could refer to an Eastern Han scholar.

Provenance

From a Scandinavian private collection. A paper label with remains of a wax seal suggests it was once purchased from the Friendship Store in Beijing. These Friendship Stores were state-run stores that sold exclusively to foreigners, accepting only foreign exchange certificates. They sold Western imported goods as well as Chinese art, mainly from the 1950s-1990s.