A CARVED RED LACQUER CABINET
A CARVED RED LACQUER CABINET

18TH-19TH CENTURY

Details
A CARVED RED LACQUER CABINET
18TH-19TH CENTURY
The cabinet is formed of two sections, each with a hinged door, and each door, side and back panel is deeply carved with an arrangement of precious vessels against a diaper ground, all surrounded by a dense foliate scroll border. The two stepped drawers above are similarly carved on the top with panels containing precious vessels and joined by a gilt openwork handle. The interior of each cabinet section is lacquered black and contains a central drawer fronted with diaper-carved red lacquer.
11 in. (28 cm.) high, 13 7/8 in. (35.2 cm.) wide, 7 ¾ in. (19.6 cm.) deep

Lot Essay

Twin cabinets such as the present lot were very popular items of furniture during the Qing dynasty. Another cabinet of similar form, but decorated with scholars in landscapes, dated to the Qianlong period (1736-1795) is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and is illustrated in East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, New York, 1991, p. 113, no. 47. Another example with a single drawer across the top and a more elaborate interior composition of two larger drawers and four smaller drawers is illustrated in The Complete Collections of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, no. 45.

Compare a cabinet of similar construction and inscribed with an Imperial poem, sold at Christie's New York, 15 September 2011, lot 1219, and another cabinet carved with precious objects from the Kaisendo Museum, Yamagata, Japan, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 1 June 2011, lot 3576.

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