.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
It is well documented that the Yongzheng Emperor had a particular fascination with Japanese lacquer techniques, yangqi, and this was reflected in many of the works produced in the Imperial workshops during his reign. For a discussion on the influence of Japanese lacquer in the Qing court, see Qinggong shihui: Yuancang Riben Qiqi Tezhan, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2002. Although the technique was adapted by the artisans in the Yongzheng court, the basic technique employed in decorating the top and aprons of the present stand with sprinkled gold lacquer is a variation on Japanese nashiji lacquer. The same technique can be seen on a number of inkstone boxes in the Palace Museum Collection illustrated in Zhongguo qiqi quanji, Vol. 6, Beijing, 1993, pp. 174-75, pls. 199-202. A pair of cabinets decorated using Japanese-influenced techniques, was illustrated by Roger Keverne, Winter Exhibition 2005, London, 2005, no. 132. Compare, also, the aprons on the current stand with very similar aprons on a rare double chair in the Palace Museum Collection illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 73, no. 62.