Rare set of two boxes designed to hold ink sticks, in black lacquer with gold and polychrome lacquer decoration,

Rare set of two ink-stick boxes, in black lacquer with gold and polychrome lacquer decoration, the lid of one depicting two dragons in profile, confronting each other on either side of the sacred jewel, among stylized clouds; the other adorned with a dragon in front, surrounded by clouds and flames, the inner rim highlighted with scrolls and lotus flowers inlaid in mother-of-pearl. The boxes are fully lined with yellow silk, and include a removable silk inscribed with characters echoing those on the ink sticks, for easy positioning.
Each box is protected by yellow silk, and the whole set is housed in a thick cardboard box covered with yellow silk and embroidered with flowers, and closed at the top by interlocking cut-out motifs in the shape of ruyi heads.
(The sticks are missing; the boxes are missing a large and a small side; the outer box is missing a large and a small side; some sides need to be reattached)
China, Kangxi period (1662-1722) for the boxes
and Qianlong period (1736-1795) for the outer box
Dim. box: 3.5 x 30 x 21 c few
Dim. box: 8 x 31.3 x 22.5 cm
A very similar set is preserved in the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing, and reproduced in: 《故宫博物院藏文物珍品大系-文房四宝-笔墨》,
Treasures from the Gugong Museum Collection, vol. 4, Trésors du lettré – l’encre et le pinceau, p. 61, pl. 54
Other examples have appeared in the following sales:
Hanhai Auction, Beijing, Oct. 7, 1995, Lot 1265
China Guardian, Nov. 10, 2008, Lot 2185,