A huanghuali round-cornered tapered cabinet, yuanjiaogui, 17th century
Lot 1366. A huanghuali round-cornered tapered cabinet, yuanjiaogui, 17th century; 39 5/8 in. (100.6 cm.) high, 26 in. (66 cm.) wide, 14¼ in. (36.2 cm.) deep. Estimate $35,000 - $50,000. Price Realized $68,500. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.
The protruding top frame with beaded, rounded edges supported on corner posts of rounded square section framing the panel doors, opening from the removable center stile to reveal the shelved interior, all above plain aprons and spandrels on the front and sides.
Provenance: Christie's, New York, 29 November 1984, lot 588.
Private collection, Paris, 1984-2009.
Note: Compare a similarly constructed jumu cabinet illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, no. D25. The author explains that the panel at the front of the cabinet, as can be seen here, is referred to as a guitang and can be plain or divided into three sections. Wang also suggests that furniture of this type in huanghuali was made in the area of Suzhou.
Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Part I and Part II Including Property from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 24 March 2011, New York, Rockefeller Plaza