Page 91 - SOtheby's Hong Kong Hawthorne Collection Scholar's Art May 2018

Striking for the intricately carved and inlaid decoration that 本品雕刻精細，器身嵌百寶，紋飾複雜，其將不同厚度之
extends over the entire broad surface, the present piece 螺鈿、寶石組合，圖案立體生動，誠為不同尋常之作。匠
is unusual for the carefully composed and chosen design 人巧用母貝磨製祥雲及龍角，一展天馬行空之創造力，
rendered in varying levels of depth. It demonstrates the
所飾龍紋勇猛生威，栩栩如生，彷彿躍然騰出器表，衝入
level of creative freedom exercised by Qing craftsmen, who
deliberately utilised mother-of-pearl to resemble white clouds, 雲霄。
as well as the horns of the five-clawed dragon. The result is
striking as the ferocious animal appears as if leaping off the 可比一黃花梨嵌寶嬰戲圖官皮箱，為 Philip Ng 珍藏，錄
surface of the cabinet. 於Karen Mazurkewich，《Chinese Furniture. A Guide
to Collecting Antiques》，拉特蘭，2006年，圖版408；
Compare a huanghuali table cabinet with two doors and
inlaid with various hardstones and mother-of-pearl, depicting 另參考一例，屬 Erica Phillips 雅蓄，後售於紐約佳士得
boys at play, from the collection of Philip Ng, illustrated in 2010年3月25日，編號815。
Karen Mazurkewich, Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting
Antiques, Rutland, 2006, pl. 408; and another example, from 此類官皮箱功用不一，可儲梳妝物品，珠寶或者其他貴重
the collection of Erica Phillips, sold at Christie’s New York, 25th 之物，亦可置於案頭，存筆墨、印章等文房用品。
March 2010, lot 815.
Table cabinets of this type, guanpi xiang (official boxes), were
used for various functions, such as dressing cases to store
toiletries, jewellery and other valuables, as well as on desks for
storage of stationary, writing implements and seals.

SCHOLARLY ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF MR & MRS GERARD HAWTHORN 89