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Lot Essay
The simple, austere lines of these cabinets create a sense of solidity and strength, as well as an architectural quality created by the unusual proportions, that feature a slimmer profile, combined with the strong horizontal lines of the top and bottom members. The uprights and horizontal members are distinguished by the elegant and well-carved "thumb-grooved" moldings on the doors and sides. The backs are constructed from large sections of huanghuali. Such attention to detail in both construction, carving and material suggest that the cabinets were constructed by a master cabinetmaker.
One unusual, though very successful, variant evident on the present cabinets is the slightly protruding frame at the top, as typically the frame is flush on all four sides. See a related huanghuali square-corner cabinet of similar size, dated seventeenth-eighteenth century, also with a protruding frame at the top, sold at Christie's, New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1726. This rare variant can be found in both huanghuali and softwood examples. See also, a line drawing of a similar cabinet illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. I, 1990, Hong Kong, p.152, D24.
One unusual, though very successful, variant evident on the present cabinets is the slightly protruding frame at the top, as typically the frame is flush on all four sides. See a related huanghuali square-corner cabinet of similar size, dated seventeenth-eighteenth century, also with a protruding frame at the top, sold at Christie's, New York, 22-23 March 2012, lot 1726. This rare variant can be found in both huanghuali and softwood examples. See also, a line drawing of a similar cabinet illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. I, 1990, Hong Kong, p.152, D24.