Page 16 - Christies Fine Chinese Works of Art March 2016 New York

PROPERTY FROM THE JK LEE FAMILY FOUNDATION

1310

A MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF HUANGHUALI
SQUARE-CORNER CABINETS,
FANGJIAOGUI
EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Each has a protruding molded top and
bottom frame above and below the well-
fgured foating panel doors within a
rectangular frame and ftted fush around
the removable center stile. The doors have
rectangular metal lockplates and pulls and
open to reveal a shelved interior and two
drawers constructed from huanghuali with
chrysanthemum-form metal mounts and
pulls. The narrow sides feature single panels
with attractive grain, and the top panel is
constructed of a solid huanghuali panel. The
legs are of rectangular section with beaded
edges and are joined in the front by a shaped
apron carved with makara at the corners and
interlocking leafy scroll, and plain aprons
and spandrels on the narrow sides. The
richly-fgured huanghuali wood is of golden-
amber tone.

67æ in. (172.5 cm.) high, 38Ω in. (97.7 cm.)

wide, 19¡ in. (49.2 cm.) deep (2)

$300,000-500,000

The form of the present cabinets, with its
attractive straight lines and pleasing aesthetic,
has made it one of the most successful forms
in Chinese furniture construction. One unusual,
though very successful, variant evident on the
present cabinets is the slightly protruding frame
at the top, on the front side only, as typically the
frame is fush on all four sides. See a related
huanghuali square-corner cabinet of similar size,
dated 17th-18th century, also with a protruding
frame at the top sold at Christie’s New York,
22-23 March 2012, lot 1726.

It is not often that pairs of cabinets survive, and
the construction of the pair almost entirely from
dificult to acquire huanghuali wood, found on
the top and back of the cabinets, and also the
drawers, makes this pair particularly rare.

清十八世紀初 黃花梨方角櫃一對

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