Coco Li
Sale Coordinator, Chinese Works of Art
Lot 90Y
A ZITAN AND HUANGHUALI SCHOLAR'S DESK CABINET WITH DRAGON APRON, ANTOUGUI
Qing Dynasty, 17th/18th century
20 March 2023, 11:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$19,125 inc. premium
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A ZITAN AND HUANGHUALI SCHOLAR'S DESK CABINET WITH DRAGON APRON, ANTOUGUI
Qing Dynasty, 17th/18th century
The rectangular framed cabinet composed of a single board huanghuali back panel and top set into a mitered, mortise and tenon zitan frame with 'water-stopping' edge, set with recessed paneled doors opening to reveal an open shelf over four stacked drawers, the side and back panels finely figured with square molded bottom edge tenoned to a superbly carved apron of paired cavorting dragons centered on a flaming pearl rendered in high relief and enclosed by a barbed and cusped beaded edge terminating in lion-mask and claw feet.
15 1/8 x 10 1/2 x 6 3/4in (38.4 x 26.7 x 17.1cm)
The rectangular framed cabinet composed of a single board huanghuali back panel and top set into a mitered, mortise and tenon zitan frame with 'water-stopping' edge, set with recessed paneled doors opening to reveal an open shelf over four stacked drawers, the side and back panels finely figured with square molded bottom edge tenoned to a superbly carved apron of paired cavorting dragons centered on a flaming pearl rendered in high relief and enclosed by a barbed and cusped beaded edge terminating in lion-mask and claw feet.
15 1/8 x 10 1/2 x 6 3/4in (38.4 x 26.7 x 17.1cm)
Footnotes
清 十七/十八世紀 紫檀嵌黃花梨雕螭龍獸面紋方角案頭櫃
Provenance:
Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, 1 March 1990
來源：
香港嘉木堂（Grace Wu Bruce），1990年3月1日
Cabinets such as this were used to store small objects and 'scholar's playthings' on top of a table or kang. Elegantly designed with a series of interior drawers and an elaborately carved chilong and lion mask bracket apron, this exquisite scholar's box exemplifies fine craftsmanship, and superb materials chosen to fulfil this important function. For a pair of late-Ming cabinets made of huanghuali of similar size, see Grace Wu Bruce, The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II (Hong Kong: Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998), no. 34, pp. 126-127, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2015, lot 136.