A RARE PAINTED AND INCISED LACQUER SQUARE-CORNER DISPLAY CABINET

17TH/18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE PAINTED AND INCISED LACQUER SQUARE-CORNER DISPLAY CABINET
17TH/18TH CENTURY
With an open shelf framed on the narrow sides by shaped aprons and spandrels, above two doors fitted flush, opening to reveal the shelved interior, the front and sides of the cabinet and the interior of the display shelf incised with various birds including phoenixes amidst rockwork, bamboo and blossoming trees, the corner posts and frame incised with quatrefoil panels containing chi dragons, all reserved on a painted wan diaper ground, the gilded hardware cast with chi dragons amidst lotus scroll
57½ in. (146.1 cm.) high, 33 7/16 in. (85 cm.) wide, 15 5/8 in. (39.7 cm.) deep

Provenance

Acquired in Beijing between 1911-29, and thence by descent within the family to the present owner.

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Lot Essay

The form of this cabinet is known as a lianggegui, which typically refers to a cabinet with an open display shelf above two doors. This form is discussed by Wang Shixiang, et.al. in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 84-5. See, ibid., vol. II, p. 147, no. D15, for an example in hardwood of very similar form.

A lacquer cabinet with open shelves on either side of hinged doors, exhibiting similar carving style and a closely related wan diaper ground, dated to the Yongzheng-Qianlong period and preserved in the Qing Court Collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 257, no. 219.

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