CIRCA 1750-60

細節

A RARE EXPORT HUANGHUALI SLANT-TOP BUREAU IN MID-GEORGIAN STYLE
circa 1750-60
The rectangular top above a sloping fall-front enclosing a fitted interior of three small drawers and four pigeon-holes around a central hinged door, the central section concealing four secret drawers, with a slide giving access to the drawer below, above one long, two short and two long graduated drawers, with secret wells below the bottom and behind the short drawers, on a shaped apron and shaped bracket feet, the sides with carrying-handles, minor restoration
36in. (91.5cm.) wide; 39½in. (101cm.) high; 21in. (52cm.) deep

拍品專文

It is rare to find such a specific Western form combined with Asian materials and such masterful Chinese joinery. Bureaus of this style appear in English furniture during the reign of King George II, evolved from earlier designs. Not only is this type of hardwood typical of Chinese furniture, but the joinery techniques are characteristically Chinese, assembled in such a way as to fit perfectly and to respond to climatic changes, which tend to be extreme in some parts of China.

A similar slant-top bureau, raised on a lion-foot stand, is in the Museum of the American China Trade (Milton/Massachusetts), illustrated in: 'The China Trade: Romance and Reality', Exhibition Catalogue, p.24. See also the bureau with bookcase illustrated by C.Crossman, op.cit., pl.79, p.227, with a similar plain front and paktong fittings.