A pair of huanghuali round-corner square cabinets, yuanjiaogui. Qing dynasty, 18th century - Sothebys
the rectangular top supported on slightly splayed corner posts of rounded square section, enclosing the rectangular single-panel doors set within narrow frames, all above a blind rectangular panel and a plain shaped apron, the shorted sides with similar aprons, opening to reveal a single shelf and lower compartment; 145 by 75.4 by 40cm., 57 by 29 3/4 by 15 3/4 in. Estimation: 20,000 - 30,000 GBP
PROVENANCE: Sotheby's London, 28th October 1988, lot 87.
NOTE: Huanghuali is amongst the most valued hardwood in China, appreciated for its vibrant colour, impressive grain pattern and light sweet fragrance. During the Ming and Qing dynasties it was used for making high quality furniture with craftsmen taking advantage of the special qualities of the wood to create smooth and plain surfaces that retained much of the material’s natural beauty. The highest quality huanghuali, also known by its Chinese botanical name Hainan jiangxiang huangtan, comes from Hainan with a wide range of colouration from light yellow to purplish-red.This type of timber is also grown in Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Cambodia but with a coarser grain texture and its colour not as striking as that from Hainan. By the Qing dynasty, huanghuali became especially treasured by the imperial court and was frequently used for the production of imperial furniture. Hu Desheng in The Palace Museum Collection. A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 2, Beijing, 2008, p. 578, describes huanghuali furniture as that which typically combines artistry, technical rationale and functional utility and the embodiment of China’s rich cultural heritage. Amongst collectors and connoisseurs huaghuali is universally acclaimed as the ‘the pearl of the Orient’.
Cabinets of this type, with the characteristic round-corner, are known as yuanjiaogui. Amongst classical Chinese furniture yuanjiaogui are valued for their simple yet elegant form and design. This type of cabinet was widely made throughout the Ming and Qing periods, although an early Qing period attribution to the present pieces is supported by the construction and the clean lines of the joinery. For detailed information on the development of Chinese cabinets see Sarah Handler, ‘Cabinets and Shelves Containing All Things in China’, Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Winter, 1993, pp. 4-29, where Handler illustrates a large yuanjiaogui on p. 13, from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, and notes that cabinets of this type became more common of domestic furniture from the 15th century.
Compare two related cabinets illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, London, 1986, pl. 142, from the author’s collection, and pl. 145, from the collection of the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau. Another slightly larger cabinet of this type, attributed to the Ming dynasty and in the Honolulu Academy of Arts , Honolulu, is published in Gustav Ecke, ‘Notes on Chinese Furniture’, Chinese Furniture. Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 87; and another in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, is included in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pl. 52. See also a pair of small cabinets sold in our New York rooms, 19/20th October 1988, lot 551; a single large cabinet, from the collection of Nicholas Grindley, sold at Christie’s New York, 21st March 2013, lot 926; and a further example, also of larger dimensions, sold at Christie’s New York, 23rd March 2012, lot 1748.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art. London | 15 mai 2013 www.sothebys.com