Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The piece is of rounded form, with a domed top and slightly concave base. Both parts are carved through thick layers of cinnabar lacquer with landscape scenes. The cover shows an elderly bearded gentleman in rich flowing robes accompanied by two servant boys, one carrying a qin zither, the other with a bundle slung across his shoulder, under overhanging branches of a pine and a deciduous tree. They are surrounded by rocks, further trees and other plants, with hills visible in the distance and clouds above. The ground is filled with honey-comb diaper, and blank space with horizontal striations. The reverse shows three deer among rocks under pine branches, with similar diaper backgrounds. The piece is heavily made, with a wooden core and perhaps some metal reinforcements, the inner sides are lacquered in black.