18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI SLOPING-STILE CABINETS
18TH CENTURY
Each cabinet has a pair of doors set around a central stile, opening to reveal the shelved interior, and is fitted into a tapering frame joined by plain aprons and spandrels.
38 in. (96.5 cm.) high, 26 3/4 in. (68 cm.) wide, 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm.) deep

Provenance

Sotheby's New York, 24 April 1987, lot 557.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Rufus Chen (陳嘉安) Head of Sale, AVP, Specialist

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

The present pair of cabinets, with their simple lines and elegant forms, represents one of the most popular and successful designs in Chinese furniture construction widely used in cabinet making throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Known as yuanjiaogui (round-corner tapered cabinet), the stiles of the cabinet are recessed from the corner of the top and slope gently outward in a subtle splay which gives the cabinet the sense of balance and stability.
The sizes of this type of cabinets range from those suitable for kang table tops to much larger ones made for storage purposes. A round-corner tapered cabinet of similar proportions but made with huanghuali and nanmu, was sold at Christie’s new York, 15 September 2011, lot 1339.

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