Imperial wedding box style, the rounded sides set over a low foot ring, the domed cover delicately painted with magpies soaring amidst pink prunus blossoms all against an egg-yolk-yellow ground, the lower part similarly decorated. The base with a 4-character Tongzhi mark in iron-red. This design was a favourite of Empress Dowager Cixi, who selected it for the wedding of her son, the Tongzhi Emperor in 1872. See Ronald W. Longsdorf, Orientations October 1996. Label J.T. Tai & Co, and old type written labels 中国黄底粉彩喜鹊登梅捧盒（同治年制款） 盒圆形，子母口，圈足。里白釉，外通体黄地，绘粉彩梅鹊纹。底施白釉，矾红书“同治年制”四字楷书款。 Dimensions H125 D270mm