Lot 1186
1186
A SMALL CARVED ZITAN 'COMPOUND CABINET AND HAT CHEST'
A SMALL CARVED ZITAN 'COMPOUND CABINET AND HAT CHEST'
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ANOTHER PROPERTY
A SMALL CARVED ZITAN 'COMPOUND CABINET AND HAT CHEST'

18TH-19TH CENTURY

Details
A SMALL CARVED ZITAN 'COMPOUND CABINET AND HAT CHEST'
18TH-19TH CENTURY
The cabinet and hat chest have single-panel doors centered around a central stile that open to reveal the shelved interior. The doors are finely carved with four, four-clawed dragons pursuing a flaming pearl amidst swirling clouds, the motif repeated with single dragons on the horizontal panel below and the side panels, as well as on the square-panel doors and side panels of the 'hat chest'. Each cabinet is fitted with cloisonné enamel hardware and the feet are clad in cloisonné enamel sabots.
19 3⁄4 in. (52 cm.) high, 11 3⁄4 in. (29.9 cm.) wide, 5 in. (12.7 cm.) deep
Provenance
Asian House of Chicago, Chicago, circa 2000, by repute.

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Lot Essay


Miniature compound cabinets of this type were made for display on a kang, which served as a seat in the day and a bed at night. The present 'cabinet and hat chest' are made separately, as the full-size prototype would be. A pair of small zitan 'compound cabinets and hat chests', also carved on the sides and door panels with dragons in flight, in the Shanghai Museum of Art, is illustrated in Shanghai Museum: Chinese Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery, Shanghai, 2007, p. 25. For a full-size prototype, see the massive pair of zitan ‘dragon’ compound cabinets and hat chests, dated to the 19th century, sold at Christie’s New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 962.

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