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Lot Essay
Wang Shixiang, in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture notes that bookcases such as the present lot, often referred to as shujia or shuge, function both as display and storage. He refers to them as ‘open shelf-stands’ because objects other than books were placed upon them. These open shelf stands take the form of four simple uprights with horizontal shelves the full width of the piece. Both elaborate and simple designs emanate from the Ming dynasty.
Sarah Handler in the Winter 1993 Journal of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, quoting from George Kates, Chinese Household Furniture suggests that the common term for drawers chouti implies that they are ‘pullable trays’ and that they would be taken from the bookcase to the table which, of course, had no drawers. Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture also mentioned that the drawers in jiage are typically positioned at chest level for easy access. Few shelves have survived to the present day, and those with drawers at the top, such as the current lot, are even rarer, suggesting it was likely custom-made.
There appears to be only one other published jiage of comparable design, with only slight variation in size and shape of the apron, which is in the MQJ collection, illustrated in The Best of the Best: The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2017, volume 2, pp.340-343.
Huanghuali jiage with drawers at chest level are relatively more common. Compare a Ming dynasty jiage of similar form in the Shanghai Museum collection (fig.1); another one sold at Bonhams New York, 16 September 2024, lot 2.
This item is made of a type of Dalbergia wood which is subject to CITES export/import restrictions since 2 January 2017. This item can only be shipped to addresses within Hong Kong or collected from our Hong Kong saleroom and office unless a CITES re-export permit is granted. Please contact the department for further information.
Sarah Handler in the Winter 1993 Journal of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, quoting from George Kates, Chinese Household Furniture suggests that the common term for drawers chouti implies that they are ‘pullable trays’ and that they would be taken from the bookcase to the table which, of course, had no drawers. Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture also mentioned that the drawers in jiage are typically positioned at chest level for easy access. Few shelves have survived to the present day, and those with drawers at the top, such as the current lot, are even rarer, suggesting it was likely custom-made.
There appears to be only one other published jiage of comparable design, with only slight variation in size and shape of the apron, which is in the MQJ collection, illustrated in The Best of the Best: The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2017, volume 2, pp.340-343.
Huanghuali jiage with drawers at chest level are relatively more common. Compare a Ming dynasty jiage of similar form in the Shanghai Museum collection (fig.1); another one sold at Bonhams New York, 16 September 2024, lot 2.
This item is made of a type of Dalbergia wood which is subject to CITES export/import restrictions since 2 January 2017. This item can only be shipped to addresses within Hong Kong or collected from our Hong Kong saleroom and office unless a CITES re-export permit is granted. Please contact the department for further information.