17TH CENTURY

Bookcases and open shelf stands are referred to as shujia or shuge, the basic forms of which are discussed by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 82, D1-3. Open shelf stands are constructed from four vertical uprights joined by shelves and drawers. Carved openwork gallery rails or the use of woods of contrasting color or grain add decorative flare to this simple form, such as a huanghuali, wumu and tielimu four-shelf bookcase in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, published in R. Jacobson and N. Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, p. 143. See, also, another example in huanghuali and wumu, with wumu openwork panels formerly in the collection of the Museum of Classical Chinese furniture and illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 122-123, no. 57.

The present display shelf has strong lines and elegant proportions creating a balanced form. The three generously-spaced shelves enhance the feeling of lightness and volume within this rigid geometry. The restrained design and lacquered softwood back provides a subtle and elegant air of refinement. A display shelf such as this would have been well suited to the studio of a scholar. An open-back zitan and nanmu bookcase, illustrated in the Vok Collection, illustrated in N. Grindley and F. Hufnagel, Pure Form: Classical Chinese Furniture: Vok Collection, Munich, 2004, pl. 3, displays similar fixed shelving devoid of decorative panels, creating an austere and refined bearing, which is enhanced by the bookcase's slender proportions and height. A pair of huanghuali bookshelves was sold at A Connoisseur’s Studio – The Cissy and Robert Tang Collection of Chinese Classical Furniture; Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2023, lot 2708.