Page 54 - Christies Asia Week 2015 Chinese Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ARCH. IGNAZIO VOK The present cabinet is a superb example of the highly successful
2032 combination of huanghuali and huamu burl. This combination, popular
A RARE HUAMU BURL-INSET HUANGHUALI ROUND-CORNER in classical Chinese furniture construction, forms a pleasing aesthetic,
TAPERED CABINET, YUANJIAOGUI with the lighter huanghuali providing an attractive contrast to the
17TH CENTURY darker, swirled grain of the burl. Compare an elegant pair of huamu-
inset huanghuali cabinets of smaller proportions, but similar form in
The beautifully proportioned cabinet is constructed with a rounded, the Charlotte Horstmann Collection and illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth,
protruding rectangular, molded top supported on elegantly splayed Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples from the Ming and Ch’ing
legs of rounded square section molded with ‘double incense-stick’ Dynasties, New York 1979, p. 207, pl. 122. Numerous examples in
beading. The attractive burlwood panels are backed with huanghuali various forms, where the combination of huanghuali and burl is used,
panels on the interior, and are set within huanghuali frames, ftted are documented. See C. Evarts, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned: A Study of
fush around the removable center stile and opening to reveal the a Group of Yokeback Chairs,’ Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture
shelved interior with two drawers, all above a plain panel and plain Society, Spring, 1993, pp. 27-9 and 32, for a group of armchairs with
aprons and spandrels on the front and sides. burl-inset splats. For an interesting discussion on burlwood and its use
68¡ in. (173.5 cm.) high, 34 in. (86.5 cm.) wide, 17Ω in. (44.5 cm.) in Chinese furniture, see C. Evarts, ‘The Nature and Characteristics of
deep Wood,’ Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Spring 1992,
pp. 38-40.
$300,000-500,000
The most comparable published example is a pair of burl-inset cabinets
PROVENANCE: (71 in. high) illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood
Examples from the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1979, p.
Eskenazi, Ltd., London, 1995. 213, pl. 127, which exhibit the same exquisite proportions and elegant
splay of the legs (fig. 1). Like the present example, the cabinets exhibit
EXHIBITED: a similar treatment of the abstract swirling, floating burl-panel doors in
contrast to the precisely beaded huanghuali frame. A very rare feature
Museum fzr Ostasiatische Kunst, K2ln, Pure Form: Classical Chinese for the pair of doors is the use of huanghuali for the backing panels.
Furniture: Vok Collection, 6 November 2004 - 28 March 2005. Burl panels have a tendency to twist due to the inherent knotted
characteristics of the material, and as such, it is quite common to
LITERATURE: find burl panels supported by secondary woods, which would have
combated this undesired effect. The use of huanghuali as the backing
N. Grindley et al., Pure Form: Classical Chinese Furniture: Vok panel suggests that the gentleman who commissioned this resplendent
Collection, Padua, 2004, pl. 1. cabinet spared no expense.

Fig. 1. One of a pair of burl-inset As suggested by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture:
cabinets, after R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. I, 1990, Hong Kong, pp. 82 and 85,
Furniture: Hardwood Examples from cabinets and stands with shelves fall into four essential types: bookcases
the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, and open shelf stands (jiage), cabinets with open shelves (liangegui),
New York, 1979, p. 207, pl. 122. round-corner tapered cabinets (yuanjiaogui), and square-corner cabinets
© Masahiro Hashiguchi. (fangjiaogui). The present cabinet falls into the third above-mentioned
form, the round-corner tapered cabinet or yuanjiaogui. Round-cornered
cabinets are usually splayed with round-edged tops that protrude
beyond the side posts, and the present cabinet is no exception to this
standard. Interestingly, there is a difference in the historical terminology
between northern and southern China whereby in the north the term
for cabinet, gui, was referred to as chu in the south.

The form of the current cabinet stands out as a truly exquisite example
of its type. The simplicity and elegance of form of the cabinet is in the
classical Ming style. The combination of design, perfect proportions and
precise craftsmanship lend the cabinet a refined elegance and sense
of balance and stability. The form was widely used in cabinet making
throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties.

明末清初 黃花梨嵌樺木癭圓角櫃

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