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Description:
Ref: 895TC   http://hygra.com/box/895TC 
Antique Chinese export lacquer tea chest with gold decoration depicting tea cultivation and trading scenes painted with a robustness of line and an attention to minutiae and the use of the bright gold contrasted against the black expanses. The caddy opens to a single compartment with two lidded pewter tea canisters with supplementary inner lids. 

This particular box is painted exceptionally well, with a robustness of line, with attention to minutiae, and with skillful use of bright gold contrasted against black expanses. 

Origin: Canton, China;  Circa: 1830; Materials: Gold decorated lacquer on wood; pewter liners.

Size: 28.5 cm wide by 21 cm by 16 cm:  11.2 inches wide by  8.3  inches by  6.3 inches.

Condition: good overall; working lock and key; see images. As each person has different criteria and antiques by their very nature have wear  please enlarge the images and ask for extra information as needed. 

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See: http://hygra.com/oriental.htm 
Oriental Lacquer is the natural sap of trees belonging to the Rhus species. It was first used in China both to protect and beautify wood. There are references to Emperor Shun (2255-2205BC) the last of the five sages advocating its use to his people. It is impossible to determine the precise date of its first application; it is part of an ancient and revered tradition interlinked with the culture of this complex ancient civilization.

The tree, which yields the best lacquer, is the Rhus Vernicifera, which is indigenous to China. At first the trees grew wild but as their value was understood they were cultivated and periodically protected by law.

The trees yield the best sap when they are a few years old. Depending on weather and soil conditions they can be ready in five years and continue to yield good lacquer until they are ten. The best time for gathering the sap is during the warmer months of the year when the trees are more active growing and the liquid flows and rises in greater quantities. It also oozes more freely without the cold freezing it. The trees are mostly found on high ground, above six and a half thousand feet where temperatures are very low in winter. In earlier times, before the plains were cleared for agriculture Rhus trees were also grown on lower ground. ... more

 

Side view Detail: The preparation of tea leaves. 

The tea chest almost certainly comes from the same workshop as:  Hygra: Fitted Chinese Export Lacquer Sewing  Box decorated with Tea Cultivation Scenes,  circa 1830.

A trader  waits for a boat laden with a cargo of tea.

The water is depicted by a diaper pattern traditional  in Chinese art.

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Detail of top: typically there signs of wear.

 The surround is a depiction of the strongly symbolic Chinese dragons.

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