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拍品专文
This beautiful pair of imperial zitan cabinets combine the skills of the wood carver and the lacquerer to particularly elegant effect. Such cabinets would probably have been intended for the private apartments of the imperial family. A similar cabinet, also combining carved zitan and gold-painted black lacquer is preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum, where it was used as a dressing chest and had a mirror stand placed on top of it (see Life in the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, Beijing, 2007, p. 133, pl. 199.) The interior layout of the current cabinets resembles a miniaturised version of the large display shelves seen in the Beijing Palace apartments, like those illustrated in Life in the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, op. cit., p. 118, pl. 182. This would have allowed the cabinet either to be used as a dressing chest, or to display small personal treasures. The fact that the interior backs of the cabinets are beautifully painted with gold would have made them ideal for displaying such treasures in an intimate, yet sumptuous, environment.
Similar gold landscapes to those on the sides of the current cabinets can be seen on the chest in which the Qianlong Emperor kept the 120 seals made for his 80th birthday (see Life in the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, op. cit., p. 234, pl. 385). Similar gold landscapes also decorated the interior back of a rare zitan display cabinet sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 29 May, 2007, lot 1398. Like the current pair of small cabinets, the Hong Kong cabinet had delicately carved openwork borders framing the individual shelves and niches. The fine carving on the exterior of the doors with its combination of archaistic and floral scrolls, includes bats to symbolise happiness. At first glance it appears that there are only four bats - two on each door - but closer inspection reveals that a fifth bat is part of the lock. Thus each cabinet bears five bats, representing the Five Blessings of longevity, happiness, good health, fortune and a peaceful death.
It is possible that these cabinets were sent as tribute to the court from one of the south-eastern provinces - probably Guangdong province. The skill of the hardwood carpenters and carvers from Guangdong was much admired, and the palace archives record a number of instances where zitan was sent as tribute to the Qing emperors. However the archives also record that Guangdong craftsmen were on occasion sent to the Imperial Household Workshops, and these craftsmen sometimes received significant sums in silver as reward for their work (see Yang Boda, 'The Characteristics and Status of Guangdong Handicrafts as seen from Eighteenth Century Tributes from Guangdong in the collection of the Former Qing Palace', Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 1987, pp. 64-5).
Similar gold landscapes to those on the sides of the current cabinets can be seen on the chest in which the Qianlong Emperor kept the 120 seals made for his 80th birthday (see Life in the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, op. cit., p. 234, pl. 385). Similar gold landscapes also decorated the interior back of a rare zitan display cabinet sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 29 May, 2007, lot 1398. Like the current pair of small cabinets, the Hong Kong cabinet had delicately carved openwork borders framing the individual shelves and niches. The fine carving on the exterior of the doors with its combination of archaistic and floral scrolls, includes bats to symbolise happiness. At first glance it appears that there are only four bats - two on each door - but closer inspection reveals that a fifth bat is part of the lock. Thus each cabinet bears five bats, representing the Five Blessings of longevity, happiness, good health, fortune and a peaceful death.
It is possible that these cabinets were sent as tribute to the court from one of the south-eastern provinces - probably Guangdong province. The skill of the hardwood carpenters and carvers from Guangdong was much admired, and the palace archives record a number of instances where zitan was sent as tribute to the Qing emperors. However the archives also record that Guangdong craftsmen were on occasion sent to the Imperial Household Workshops, and these craftsmen sometimes received significant sums in silver as reward for their work (see Yang Boda, 'The Characteristics and Status of Guangdong Handicrafts as seen from Eighteenth Century Tributes from Guangdong in the collection of the Former Qing Palace', Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Hong Kong, 1987, pp. 64-5).