Page 105 - 2018 Hong Kong Important Chieese Art

With its dynamic dragon design carved from the treasured zitan was predominantly used for the decoration and furnishing
zitan, this impressive panel reflects the Qianlong Emperor’s of the many halls and palaces of the Forbidden City. Its use
unrelenting occupation with the notion of imperial benevolence was scrupulously monitored and the emperor gave special
and authority. Probably originally a front panel for the door of a instructions to ensure the most economical and responsible
large cabinet, the sheer size of the complete piece would have use of the palace’s zitan supply to avoid any waste.
achieved its intentional role of displaying power and wealth.
Compare a similarly carved, but much smaller, set of doors
The rare and prized zitan wood was available only to the to a tall cabinet, from the Qing court collection and still in
master craftsmen employed by the Woodworks (Muzuo) in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of
the Palace Workshop. Historically, zitan was primarily grown in the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
southern India and Southeast Asia, with a very small quantity (II), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 231. Designs with dragons among
known from the southern provinces of present-day Guangxi, clouds are known in a denser and more elaborately carved
Guangdong and Jiangxi in China. Appreciated for its jade-like style; a large pair of panels was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong,
silky texture, fine and dense grain, and deep lustre, it was 27th September 1989, lot 1577; a pair of cabinets illustrated
the favoured timber of both the Ming and Qing courts. Zitan in situ in the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City, published in
became the Qianlong Emperor’s most favoured wood type and Qingdai gongting shenghuo [Life in the Palace during the Qing
he spared no expense in acquiring it. The wood’s long growth dynasty], Hong Kong, 1985, pl. 133; and the top panel of a
period, limited availability and high demand primarily from chest, attributed to the Qianlong period, illustrated in C.Y. Tsai,
the imperial court, led to its excessive felling and eventual Zitan. The Most Noble Hardwood, My Humble House, Taipei,
disappearance in China by the early 18th century. At court, 1996, pp. 218-219.

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 103