LONDON.- A Japanese lacquer box containing costly and exotic objects mounted in gold is the centrepiece of Bonhams European Ceramics sale in London on 17 June. This rare survival from the age of splendour at the Holy Roman Imperial Court is estimated at £120,000-180,000.

The box holds three porcelain tea flasks, and was designed to be used at tea picnics, a Japanese fashion which spread to Europe in the 17th century. They are very early examples of Du Paquier porcelain – the manufactory established in Vienna in 1719 and patronised by the Imperial Court. At the time, porcelain was considered so precious that it was mounted with the finest filigree gold, probably by the court goldsmiths in Vienna. The box also contains a beautiful, faceted agate cup with similar gold mounts, and an inscription that speaks of a magnificent Imperial provenance: „De la cassette de thé/de l´Impératrice/Marie-Thérèse“ (From the tea casket of the Empress Maria Theresa).

Maria Theresa’s father, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, gave gifts of Du Paquier porcelain with similar costly gold mounts to the leading figures of the day, such as the Czar of Russia, as well as to his own daughters.

Similar precious sets were also awarded as prizes at the annual Imperial shooting contests held at the summer palace of Favorita. These were important society events attended by the highest-ranking members of the Imperial Court. They, and the Emperor himself, commissioned extravagant prizes, which often included Du Paquier porcelain combined with other expensive and precious materials.

The Empress Maria Theresa, was well-known for her love of lacquer – as was her daughter, the French queen Marie Antoinette. It is very likely this set belonged to the Empress herself, perhaps received as a gift from her father.

It remained in the possession of the Habsburg family until the end of the First World War, when the abdication of the last Austro-Hungarian Emperor brought the long history of Imperial splendour to a close.

The box will on view at Bonhams office in Vienna (Tuchluaben 8, 1010 Vienna) on 2 June and at the Bonhams office in Paris (4, rue de la Paix, 75002 Paris) from 9-11 June.