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Lot Essay
In China, the present form of cabinet was referred to as a kanggui or "cabinet for a kang." In recent years this general term has often been applied to cabinets of this smaller form, and although these incidentally may have actually been used on a kang, they can also be seen used as tabletop cabinets and in other settings.
A cabinet of similar form, with shaped apron and circular shield-shaped emblem, is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol. II, 1990, Hong Kong, p. 150, no. D21. It is interesting that the majority of round-corner cabinets of this type have doors which open by swinging on the axis of the outer post of the door frame, whereas on the present cabinet, the door swings on an external metal hinge, more commonly found on square-corner cabinets.
A cabinet of similar form, with shaped apron and circular shield-shaped emblem, is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol. II, 1990, Hong Kong, p. 150, no. D21. It is interesting that the majority of round-corner cabinets of this type have doors which open by swinging on the axis of the outer post of the door frame, whereas on the present cabinet, the door swings on an external metal hinge, more commonly found on square-corner cabinets.