Page 70 - Christies March 16, 2017 The Varata Collection NYC

Compound cabinets combine a large square-corner cabinet with a small upper
cabinet. It is not unusual to fnd cabinets constructed partially, if not entirely, from
camphor (zhangmu) which was prized for its ability to repel insects.
Clothing was never hung vertically, but instead robes were folded and laid fat in
chests or on shelves. Several cabinets are constructed with folding hinged doors,
such as a very rare pair of inlaid huanghuali cabinets located at the Palace Museum,
Beijing, illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture-Ming and Early Qing
Dynasties, Chicago, 1968, no. 149, and a pair of huanghuali cabinets in the Victoria
& Albert Museum given as part of the Addis Bequest (fg.1). These hinged doors are
retained by sliding wedges to allow for the easy removal of the doors so that a court
robe could be folded vertically and placed fat on the interior shelf.
The central lockplates on the ‘Addis’ cabinets are identical to the baitong metalwork
and display the same octagonal cloud-form lockplate and double fsh-shaped drop
handles of the present cabinet. When compared to the ‘Addis’ cabinets, the ‘Piccus’
cabinet displays a more elegant and balanced design. The central lockplate is the
largest design element and is elegantly paired with a slightly smaller variation on
the octagonal cloud-form lockplate of the hinges. A notable feature of the cabinet
is found in the sensitive consideration of the size and form of the metalwork in
contrast to the blank surface of the attractively-grained huanghuali, seen in the
slightly smaller lock-plate and hinges on the upper section compared to those of the
lower cabinet.

頂箱櫃，即方角立櫃及頂箱上下合成。局部或整體以樟木製者並不罕見，蓋取其
防蟲之功效。
古時衣袍並非垂掛，而是摺疊後平放於箱籠或屜板之上。少數大櫃更於櫃門左右
釘合頁加裝餘塞板，如故宮博物院藏一清代黃花梨百寶嵌大四件櫃，見王世襄 《
明清家具珍賞》，1986年，編號149。維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館藏艾惕思爵士
(Sir John Addis)捐贈一對黃花梨頂箱櫃(圖1)，櫃門裝有活銷，容易裝卸，以便
官員朝服先垂直摺疊再而平放於櫃內屜板。
愛氏舊藏與本櫃中心之銅活皆以白銅所製，兩者均用八角雲頭式面葉，上有雙魚
式吊牌。惟本櫃比例更見匀稱平衡，造型較之優雅。整櫃之設計重心落在中央面
頁，與邊框上相對小巧之八角雲紋合葉相互輝映。櫃身通體光素，黃花梨木紋華
美細膩，而銅活之尺寸比例則恰到好處，恬靜不喧。仔細觀察立櫃上截之合頁飾
件，可見其尺寸略小，乃是經過深思熟慮的巧妙安排。

Fig.1 Pair of cupboards; huali wood with brass fttings;
Chinese (Ming Dynasty); c.1550 - 1600.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
（圖1）明花梨木鑲銅頂箱櫃一對
圖片版權所有：維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館，倫敦

68 THE MARIE THERESA L. V I R ATA C O L L E C T I O N OF ASIAN ART: A FAMILY LEGACY