Page 177 - Christie's Important Chinese Art, March 23 to 24 2023 New York

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED COLLECTION
~1160
A CARVED ZITAN DISPLAY SHELF WITH
HONGMU STAND
19TH CENTURY
61 in. (155 cm.) high, 38q in. (97.8 cm.) wide, 16¿ in. (41 cm.)
deep

$70,000-90,000
PROVENANCE:
Prince Gong (1833-1898) (sixth son of Emperor Daoguang,
r. 1821-1850).
The J. M. Hu (1911-1995), Zande Lou Collection.
EXHIBITED:
Taipei, National Palace Museum, 1983.

顯㈥珍藏
清十̏ˠ紀ǎ紫檀雕拐子紋૨寶格及紅木座
Ϝ源
恭親王
清道Բⅴ帝ⓧՍ子
年在
Ψ
舊藏
暫得樓胡惠春
珍藏
展覽
台٫
४⒤故宮博ḵ院
年

Display shelves are found in various materials and sizes.
The open shelving in a varying heights and configurations
allowed for the display of vases and decorative works in
contrasting sizes, colors and shapes. This style of display
created sumptuous and lavish interior spaces, such as the
pair of curio cabinets filled with bronzes and porcelains in
the eastern wing of the Chuxiu Palace, illustrated by Hu
Desheng in The Palace Museum Collection: A Treasury of
Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 2, Beijing, c.
2007, p. 696, fig. 797. A related gilt-decorated zitan display
shelf, dated to the Yongzheng-Qianlong period, in the
Qing collection, is illustrated in The Complete Collection
of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 54 - Furniture of the
Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 254, no. 216
and p. 270, no. 229. Similar to the present display shelf,
these display shelves have an asymmetrical arrangement
of shelves and drawers of varying heights and shapes, each
opening fitted with an openwork gallery. Wang Shixiang
illustrates in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. 54,
Hong Kong, 1990, p. 144, D9, a three-shelf open stand
with two drawers raised on two removeable pedestals
suggesting that these display shelves were adapted to the
interior setting.