A rare huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinet, yuanjiaogui, 17th century
Lot 885. A rare huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinet, yuanjiaogui, 17th century; 45 ¾ in. (116.2 cm.) high, 29 in. (73.6 cm.) wide, 17 ½ in. (44.5 cm.) deep. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 68,750. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019.
The beautifully proportioned cabinet has a rounded rectangular top supported on elegantly splayed legs of circular section. The matched single-panel doors open to reveal the shelved interior, all above a plain apron and spandrels.
Provenance: Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, 1993.
Note: Round-cornered cabinets are usually splayed and have round-edged tops that protrude beyond the side posts. The present cabinet is no exception to this standard. One of similar proportions and form, and of slightly larger size (148 cm. high), dated to the 17th century, in the collection of The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, illustrated by Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley in Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota, 1999, pp. 150-51, no. 52, where the authors note that "round-corner, sloping style cabinets, yuanjiaogui, were made in sizes ranging from those suitable for table tops to more imposing storage furniture over seven feet in height."
Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 13 September 2019