17TH CENTURY

The present cabinet is highly unusual, as its method of construction involves the inclusion of removable side and back panels. Cabinets of this type appear to be rare, as on most examples of wanligui, the side and back panels are fixed in place and cannot be removed. An example of this latter type is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 147, no. D15. Compare, also, the pair of huanghuali display cabinets, also of this latter type, from the collection of Dr. S.Y. Yip, sold in these rooms, 20 September 2002, lot 12.