Page 162 - Bonhams, Fine Chinese Art, London November 3, 2022

184 Y
A HUANGHUALI SEAL CHEST, GUANPIXIANG The present lot forms part of a distinguished collection of classical
18th century Chinese furniture devotedly collected and lived with over the past three
The chest of rectangular shape with a flat top opening to a shallow decades. The owner had the privilege of learning from the pre-eminent
single tray, above a pair of well-figured, single-panel doors revealing scholar of classical Chinese furniture, Wang Shixiang, as well as from
seven drawers fitted with baitong pulls, the chest mounted with a the well-known dealer in classical Chinese furniture, Grace Wu Bruce.
circular lockplate and a ruyi-form clasp, the sides set with bail handles,
the whole raised on a flat base with corner mounts, the vividly-grained Boxes such as the present one were typically designed for use on
wood of a rich reddish-brown. the scholar’s desk, where they would have held a number of seals
32cm (12in) high x 33.5cm (13 1/8in) wide x 23cm (9in) deep. as well as the other trappings necessary to make seal impressions.
These containers, however, were also employed by women and likely
£8,000 - 12,000 held their cosmetics. A similar seal chest to the present example is
CNY63,000 - 94,000 depicted on a table top in an illustration titled ‘Reading a Letter at the
Cosmetic Table’, included in a woodblock edition of the ‘Romance of
the Western Chamber’, dating to the Wanli period (1563-1620).
十八世紀 黄花梨官皮箱 Compare with a similar huanghuali seal chest, 18th century and fitted
with seven drawers, illustrated by T.Liu, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio,
Provenance: a British private collection Hong Kong, 1986, p.257 fig.252. See also a 17th century huanghuali
chest from the Honolulu Academy of Art, Hawaii, illustrated by
來源：英國私人收藏 S.L.Little and J.Jensen, ‘Chinese Furniture in the Honolulu Academy
of Arts. The Frederick Mueller Bequest’, in Chinese Furniture. Selected
Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p.63, fig.15.

A related huanghuali chest with lobed circular mounts, 17th century,
and another with square and lobed mounts, 17th/18th century, were
sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 1999, lots 68 and 60.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
160 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.