Page 244 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

The present cabinets, with their restrained and minimalist ornamentation, but with shaped aprons, originally from the Vok Collection, is illustrated by
elegant proportions, and extravagant use of beautifully-grained huanghuali, N. Grindley, Pure Form: Classical Chinese Furniture – Vok Collection, Munich,
epitomize the highest ideals of classical Ming furniture. Constructed entirely 2004, no. 2.
from high-quality huanghuali wood chosen for its golden honey tones, the
cabinets’ large, fat surfaces show of the natural beauty of the densely- The luxurious use of precious huanghuali, including on the removable back
grained wood, with copious examples of ‘ghost faces’ – natural whorls in the panels, top panels, shelves, and drawer lines, indicates the present cabinets
grain that resemble faces. were commissioned by a wealthy individual. The rarity, and thus cost, of
huanghuali meant that in most cabinets, the top and back panels and the
The current cabinets eschew any superfuous ornamentation, with the shelves and drawer liners were usually constructed from a less expensive
beaded edge along the plain apron and spandrels towards the feet and softwood, as these elements were rarely visible. Only those with the most
the polished baitong mounts the only accommodation towards decoration. exacting tastes, and deepest pockets, would demand that all elements of the
Instead, the eye is drawn to the beauty of the material, and the subtle cabinet be constructed from huanghuali, as is the case with the present pair.
rounded edges and corners that lend the cabinets a softened, organic feel. A comparable case is the magnifcent pair of zitan cabinets in the Liang Yi
While it is not uncommon to fnd cabinets with beaded or molded edges, it Collection, which have zitan frames but huanghuali removable backs, shelves,
is extremely rare to see rounded edges and corners, and the present pair are drawer liners, and top panels, illustrated by Curtis Evarts, Liang Yi Collection:
perhaps the only known extant examples. Zitan, Hong Kong, 2007, p. 101, no. 34. Evarts posits that the Liang Yi pair
could have possibly been associated with the Palace during the late Ming
The aforementioned rounded corners, and the fact that the top panel is dynasty, due to the lavish use of precious timber. Although it is impossible to
constructed from huanghuali, mean that it is unlikely the present cabinets make the same assertion with the present pair of cabinets, the original owner
ever had associated hat chests, additional storage chests that are stacked would certainly have had to have been extremely wealthy to aford such an
above square-corner cabinets and hold additional items of clothing. Due to expensive commission.
the absence of hat chests, it is likely these cabinets inhabited a scholar’s
studio - where they would have held painting supplies or precious antiques The quality of the huanghuali timber is also one of the defning features of
- rather than a bedroom. Square-corner cabinets with fush-panel doors the present cabinets. The color, a golden amber hue, is even throughout
without hat chests appear to be very rare. A cabinet of this type without both cabinets, indicating they were constructed from the same lengths of
a hat chest can be seen in a handscroll depicting The Qianlong Emperor’s wood. Furthermore, the large panels of the doors and removable backs sport
Southern Inspection Tour, dated to 1770, in The Metropolitan Museum of abundant ‘ghost face’ knots, which are highly prized for their beauty. Such
Art, New York. (Fig. 1) A pair in the Lu Ming Shi Collection, although with designs are rarely seen on large pieces of furniture, mostly being found in
removable center-stiles and cabinet cavities (guitang), were exhibited at the small desk objects, such as a huanghuali brush pot from The Ian and Susan
Musée Guimet in 2003 and illustrated by J. Desroches in Ming: The Golden Wilson Collection of Scholar’s Objects, sold at Christie’s New York,
Age of Chinese Furniture, Paris, 2003, pp. 196-97, no. 63. A single square- 17 March 2016, lot 1101.
corner cabinet with fush-panel doors, again with a removable center-stile

Fig. 1. Detail of The Qianlong Emperor’s Southern Inspection Tour, Scroll Six: Entering
Suzhou along the Grand Canal; Xu Yang (Chinese, active ca. 1750–after 1776) and
assistants. Dated 1770. Handscroll; ink and color on silk. The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York. Purchase, The Dillon Fund Gift, 1988. 1988.350a–d.

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