18th c., consisting of seven various figural decorated geometric shaped units fitting into a difficult puzzle, turquoise interiors, set in a wood tray, 11.5” square
The units are decorated with 108 characters from the 14th c. work of fiction ‘Shui Hu Chuan’ about a troop of bandits in the early Yaan Dynasty. This work was translated in 1933 by Pearl Buck as ‘All Men are Brothers’. Each character is identified by a cartouche. The interiors and bottom have with turquoise glaze.