Lot 104. A huanghuali sloping-stile wood-hinged cabinet, Late Ming dynasty; 157.2 by 88.7 by 44.5 cm, 61 7/8  by 34 7/8  by 17 1/2  in.. Estimate 3,800,000 — 5,500,000 HKD (447,239 - 647,319 EUR). Lot sold 6,320,000 HKD (713,475 EUR). Photo Sotheby's.

the top of standard mitre, mortise and tenon, tongue-and-grooved floating panel construction with exposed tenons on the short sides and two dovetailed supporting transverse braces underneath, the four main stiles moulded and beaded on the three outside corners and squared on the inside, double tennoned into the top with one tenon exposed, the doors flanking the removable central stile and of standard mitred frame construction, each frame member and the central stile moulded with a raised half round centre edged by a flat narrow band, the outside stiles moulded only on the insides and finishing on extended dowels on the outsides, fitted into sockets in the underside of the frame top and the horizontal shaped stretcher mortised and tennoned into the main stiles below the doors, each beautifully figured, single-board, matching panel with four dovetailed transverse braces tennoned into the door frame, the interior with one removable shelf resting on the dovetailed transverse braces of the side panels and a permanent central section comprising a shelf and two drawers with huangtong plates and pulls, a plain mitred apron tongue-and-grooved into the legs and butt-joined to the underside of the beaded-edged shaped stretcher below the doors, the side aprons similarly modelled, the door frame members and the central stile fitted with three curved rectangular metal plates and decorated with three square lock receptacles and two beautifully shaped door pulls.

Provenance: Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong.  

Literature: Grace Wu Bruce, Ming Furniture, Hong Kong, 2008, pp. 54–7.

Note: This magnificent huanghuali cabinet is constructed with matching door panels cut from the same timber; the tightly grained and whirling pattern shows the huanghuali wood at its best. In addition, the side panels, as well as the other members, are cut from the same tree, all of the highest quality.

One of the most ingenious and beautiful designs of classic Chinese furniture is the sloping-stile, wood-hinged cabinet. The four main stiles are recessed from the corners of the top and slope gently outward in a subtle, almost imperceptible splay. This simple design feature gives the cabinet its refined elegance and a sense of balance and stability.

The doors, with extended dowels on both ends, fit into sockets in the cabinet frame members and act as hinges. Free from the necessity of applied hinges, the clean lines of the cabinet are not interfered with. The rectangular metal plates with their lock receptacles and door pulls not only serve a practical function, but are also judiciously placed as decoration for the otherwise completely plain piece. Sloping-stile wood-hinged cabinets are masterpiece of Chinese cabinet makers.

For a similar but smaller piece in the Musée Guimet, Paris, see Michel Beurdeley, Chinese Furniture, Tokyo, 1979, p. 93. See also another example in the collection of Dr Gustav Ecke, illustrated in George N. Kates, Chinese Household Furniture, New York, 1948, reprinted 1962, pl. 10.

Sotheby's. Ming Furniture – An Asian Private Collection, Hong Kong, 06 Apr 2016, 02:00 PM