Page 19 - Sotheby's Part II Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

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ɤ ර A FINELY CARVED AND RETICULATED HUANGHUALI
ɖ ڀ 'CHILONG' SEAL CHEST,
˰ ૣ 17TH CENTURY

ߏ ᗨ the hinged top cover intricately reticulated with a pair of sinuous chilong writhing among scrolling clouds carved in varying levels of
ᎉ relief, each dragon playfully grasping the other's bifurcated tail in addition to its own, the front doors similarly reticulated, the sides
⸷ pierced with rows of stylised kui dragons, the back carved in low relief with confronting kui dragons rendered in angular scrollwork, the
interior set with a large drawer with five smaller drawers below, all supported on a flanged base, the doors and edges reinforced with
Ꮂ metal strap hinges, door pulls, lock receptacles and a ruyi-head clasp
49.2 by 35 by h. 41.2 cm
७
֜ PROVENANCE Ը๕j
Eastern Pacific Co. (Hei Hung-Lu), Hong Kong, 31st January 1981. ؇इਠБ€ලݳສd࠰ಥd1981ϋ1˜31˚
ͤ EXHIBITED ࢝ᚎj
ᇌ Selected Treasures of Chinese Art: Min Chiu Society Thirtieth ዝ˾˖يയޜjઽӋၚٸɧɤ඄ϋߏׂ࢝‘d࠰ಥᖵஔ᎜d
Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong,
1990-91. ࠰ಥd1990-91ϋ
̈وj
LITERATURE
Selected Treasures of Chinese Art: Min Chiu Society Thirtieth ዝ˾˖يയޜjઽӋၚٸɧɤ඄ϋߏׂ࢝‘d࠰ಥd1990ϋd
Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 255. ᇜ໮255
◉ HK$ 600,000-800,000
US$ 76,500-102,000

Finely reticulated and superbly carved in relief, the present seal chest For other rare relief-decorated huanghuali table-top chests, see an
ranks among the finest examples of huanghuali chests. The dynamic example attributed to the 16th to 17th century, illustrated in Splendor
scene on the top is intricately decorated with a pair of sinuous chilong, of Style: Classical Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties,
grasping both its own and its companion's bifurcated tails, thereby National Museum of History, Taipei, 1999, pp. 182-3. A chest with
forming a loop as if dancing together through swirling clouds. The only the front doors decorated in relief, depicting the Queen Mother
rotational symmetry of the composition allows the main design to of the West and the King of the East, was formerly in the collection
be appreciated from multiple angles, either upright from the front or of Dr S.Y. Yip, included in Grace Wu Bruce, Chan Chair and Qin
upside-down from the back when the top is opened. The front doors Bench: The Dr S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Art
are further decorated with a pair of symmetrical chilong writhing Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1998, pp.
vigorously in a dense sea of clouds beneath the sun and the moon. 182-183, and sold in these rooms, 5th April 2017, lot 3508. Compare a
17th-century chest carved with prunus in relief but lacking openwork,
from Hei Hung Lu and Robert Blumenfield collection, sold at
Christie's New York, 22nd March 2012, lot 1310.

36 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1292 THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 37