LATE MING DYNASTY-EARLY QING DYNASTY

Details

A ZITAN TABLE CABINET
LATE MING DYNASTY-EARLY QING DYNASTY
The top of the lid is flat and it opens to reveal a tray-like compartment. The doors are cut with ledges on their upper edge so that when the lid is closed, these ledges fit behind the lid, preventing the doors from being opened. Behind the two doors are three drawers. The corners of the lid are fitted with rectangular and ruyi-shaped baitong plates for reinforcement. Rectangular strap hinges of the lid and the doors, and in front, the lotus-shaped plate with a hasp and lock receptacles, small plates with door pulls below, and handles on both sides are all made of baitong. The curvilinear-shaped base is carved with scrolling tendrils.
15 ¾ in. (40 cm.) wide, 12 13⁄16 in. (32.5 cm.) deep, 14 in. (35.5 cm.) high

Provenance

The MQJ Collection, Hong Kong

Literature

Grace Wu Bruce, ‘Small Portable Treasures, Examples of Classical Chinese Furniture: (V)’, Oriental Art, Autumn 1993, London, p. 50
Grace Wu Bruce, Two Decades of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2010, p. 270
Grace Wu, The Best of the Best- The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture- vol. 2, Beijing, 2017, pp. 470-473
Grace Wu, Three Decades of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2024, p. 274

Exhibited

Sotheby’s Hong Kong, The Best of the Best- The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, 29 September-2 October 2017
Christie’s Hong Kong, A Special Exhibition of the MQJ Collection, 11-15 October 2024

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

These table cabinets were used as dressing cases by both men and women to store toiletries, jewellery and other valuables. They were also used on desks for the storage of stationery, writing implements and seals. Woodblock illustrations to the popular drama Xi Xiang Ji (The West Chamber) shows these table cabinets in use in all its various editions (Fig. 1).

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