Page 131 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

PROPERTY FROM THE MEE-DIN AND ROBERT W. MOORE Comparable examples of lacquer ware with inlaid ‘flora and fauna’
COLLECTION OF CHINESE LACQUER roundels can be found but they are limited, see two boxes in the
Qing Court Collection, one red lacquered, and one black, with
145 exquisite mother-of-pearl inlays illustrated Gugong Bowuyuan Cang
A MOTHER-OF-PEARL-INLAID BLACK LACQUER LOW TABLE, Wenwu Zhenpin Quanji (Complete Collection of Treasures of the
KANGZHUO Palace Museum) Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong,
18th Century 2006, pp. 234-235, no’s 176-177 respectively. Another Black
Of Ming dynasty form, the top decorated with multiple conjoined lacquer example is illustrated Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Wenwu
or single stylized flower-head, bat and bird medallions within floral Zhenpin Quanji (Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
scrolls at the borders and a key-pattern design at the corners, the Museum) Qing Lacquer Ware, Hong Kong, 2002, pp.159, no. 177.
sides, waist, apron and short solid cabriole legs with further fruit and
flower sprays. For another box and cover with similar single and grouped floral
40 x 24 x 12in (101.6 x 60.9 x 30.5cm) medallions dated to the 18th century, see Sotheby’s, Hong Kong, 4
May 1994, lot 295.
$10,000 - 15,000
See also ibid., pp. 76-77, no. 52 for a cinnabar lacquer box in the
十八世紀 黑漆嵌螺鈿花鳥圖炕桌 form of a slipcase decorated in relief with similar floral roundels
some single and some conjoined over almost the the entire surface.
Early mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer furniture is relatively scarce. Our The same publication also illustrates, a small kang table with
example which can safely be dated to the 18th century might also mother-of-pearl decoration of loose flower sprays dotted around the
date to the second-half of the 17th century, following so closely, as it apron and sides which resemble the treatment on ours. It is dated
does, the construction favored by the late Ming and early Qing cabinet Mid Qing Dynasty.
makers. For other examples of furniture, see an earlier throne with
similar ‘loose’ flower sprays on its apron and legs dated to the Ming For a black lacquer display cabinet dated to the 17th century and
dynasty illustrated by Zhu Jiajin and Xia Gengqi, Zhongguo qiqi quanji. painted, rather than inlaid, with floral medallions, see Zhang Rong (Ed.),
Ming [Lacquer treasures from China. Ming dynasty], vol. 5, Fujian,
1997, p. 209, pl. 192; and a large enclosed four-post bed with more The Creation of Natural Immensity and Grandeur, The Yang Ming Shan
Fang Collection of Lacquer from Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties,
stylised flowerhead medallions bordering the back panel is illustrated
Gugong Bowuyuan Cang Wenwu Zhenpin Quanji (Complete Collection Beijing, 2020, pp. 146-147, no. 44.
of Treasures of the Palace Museum) Furniture of the Ming and Qing
Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pp.10-13, no. 3. For an early Qing
period inlaid mother-of-pearl altar table in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
that has similar floral inlays to those on the sides of our table, see Hu
Desheng, The Palace Museum Collection, A Treasury of Ming and Qing
Dynasty Palace Furniture, Vol. I, Beijing, 2007, pp.272-273, fig. 312.
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